Since USADA’s partnership with the UFC began in 2015, the landscape of the game has changed dramatically. For one, the number of PED-related issues have significantly doubled, affecting fighters like Lyoto Machida and Chad Mendes, both of whom had no record of drug test failures in the past.
In light of the most recent controversy involving Jon Jones, the UFC announced its renewed contract with USADA. UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky bared more details in a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show.
“USADA came to us and said, ‘hey, we think you should up the amount of testing that you are doing,’” Novitzy said (transcript by Fansided.