Jeff Novitzky Wants Athletic Commissions To Get It Right With Drug Testing
The UFC Vice President Of Athlete Health & Performance in Jeff Novitzky is heavily involved with the drug testing side of the UFC, closely working with USADA.
When it comes to the various state athletic commissions that oversee MMA events, the UFC executive wants the commissions to just get it right.
“It’s so important in anti-doping that you get it right,” Novitzky said during a presentation at the 2017 Association of Boxing Commissions annual meeting.
One of the most recent examples of a commission failure for a drug test has to do with female strawweight Cortney Casey. Who initially had her win against Jessica Aguilar overturned to a no contest by the Texas Department Of Licensing & Regulation for a supposedly failed drug test.
However, it was revealed that the fighter did not fail the drug test and the TLDR acted to quickly before receiving the B sample result. The B sample results showed that Casey in fact, didn’t fail a drug test at all.
Novitzky also wants the various athletic commissions to know that the UFC will provide them with help if they need it.
“We are happy to provide you with experts, whether (from) USADA, or WADA lab directors, or scientists who’ve made a career out of anti-doping all throughout the world,” he said. “I’m happy to provide that contact to you to get it right. A false accusation in anti-doping is one of the worst things that can happen. It taints the entire movement.”
UFC 214 is going to be the next time fighters are going to be drug tested, which is going to be handled by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC).
