Poirier Reacts To USADA And UFC’s Break-Up

“I just hope whatever new testing program and regimen they’re gonna use catches the guys who are actually cheating.”

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will undergo a big change to start 2024.

It was recently revealed that United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and UFC will cease to work together at the start of the new year. USADA’s lengthy run with the company testing its athletes comes to an end after a debacle began throughout 2023 regarding the return of former two-division champion, Conor McGregor, who was hopeful to fight without going through the required six-month testing period.

McGregor left the testing pool at the end of 2021 after his last fight which came against his old rival, Dustin Poirier. In their trilogy bout, McGregor suffered a broken leg at the end of round one, resulting in the technical knockout win for Poirier (watch highlights) after evening the score with a second round knockout in their rematch earlier that year. Poirier has always been an advocate for clean competition, so the news is something that he hopes doesn’t lead to any drastic differences.

“It is what it is, man,” Poirier told MMA Mania. “I’m an athlete, I don’t make the decisions on behalf of the company. I just hope whatever new testing program and regimen they’re gonna use catches the guys who are actually cheating. Not the tainted stuff, none of that stuff. The people who are deliberately cheating or using anabolic steroids or some kind of performance-enhancing drugs. I hope whatever new program they go to catches these guys.”

With UFC and USADA butting heads upon the fallout, UFC announced that the next governing body to handle its drug testing will be Drug Free Sport International (DFSI). The testing will all be overseen by ex-FBI agent, George Piro.

Poirier last fought in a highly-anticipated rematch against Justin Gaethje at UFC 291 in July 2023. Unfortunately for “The Diamond,” he suffered a second round knockout loss.