Midnight Mania! Brunson Boils Over USADA Ineptness

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight! Welcome to Midnight Mania!
Did you know that UFC fighters have to keep United States Anti-Doping Agency…


UFC 271 Weigh-in
Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Bringing you the weird and wild from the world of MMA each and every weeknight!

Welcome to Midnight Mania!

Did you know that UFC fighters have to keep United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) aware of their location at all times? Since they’re subject to random drug tests, athletes are supposed to constantly update the testing organization, and there’s strict punishments for failing to meet their criteria. A trio of whereabouts failures within a calendar year will leave an athlete suspended — just as Nick Diaz!

Over the years, there’s been some pushback in regards to how this has been implemented, as well as speculation regarding privacy and whether or not this constant surveillance should earn athletes employee status. Previously, there was discussion of 24/7 tracking, but based on the following rant from Derek Brunson, that feature came, went, and was replaced by something far buggier.

The Middleweight contender took to Twitter to complain about the drug testing organization earlier today. In his post, Brunson complains that there’s no longer a GPS feature, meaning it’s easier for fighters to suffer whereabouts failures when on the go. He also questions is USADA is actually catching anyone …

When asked further, Brunson elaborated a bit, explaining that he’s been notified of whereabouts failures twice, so a third could be catastrophic for his career. Brunson points to having multiple businesses/properties as the reason for all his running around, something of a necessity for most pro fighters coming to end of their career.

It’s a complicated issue, because Georges St. Pierre already explained how the location system can be gamed to abuse performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Cleaning up the sport as much as possible is necessary for the image of the organization and safety of its athletes, but those same athletes bear some burdens as a result.

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