USADA denies it asked Ferguson sign a ‘beneficiary agreement’

Tony Ferguson said USADA asked him to sign a ‘beneficiary agreement’ before he got his hands wrapped at UFC 274

Former UFC lightweight champion had some issues with how the United States Anti-Doping Agency allegedly dealt with him in the lead up to his UFC 274 fight against Michael Chandler.

According to Ferguson, “Usually @usantidoping tests as soon as I get into the arena, almost every time. This time I wasn’t tested day before or day of. They tried to have me sign a beneficiary agreement before wrapped my hands, which never happened in any of my fights UFC 274.”

Looking for some clarification on Ferguson’s charges — especially pertaining to his accusation that USADA had him “sign a beneficiary agreement,” Bloody Elbow reached out to USADA. According to the organization, which handles the UFC’s anti-doping program, “It is not part of USADA procedure to have an athlete sign a beneficiary agreement, and we did not approach Mr. Ferguson with such a request.”

Due to privacy concerns, USADA would not answer our question on the timing of any testing that was done before or after the event on Ferguson. However, USADA’s testing history feature shows that Ferguson has been tested twice by the organization in the second quarter of 2022. USADA has tested Ferguson three times in total this year. USADA administered nine tests on Ferguson in 2021.

Chandler knocked out Ferguson in the second round of their UFC 274 contest. The loss came in Ferguson’s first fight since Beneil Dariush defeated him via decision in May 2021.

Bloody Elbow reached out to the UFC for comment on Ferguson’s claim regarding the beneficiary agreement, but has not heard back at this time.

UFC 274 took place on May 7 at Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. The main card streamed on ESPN+ pay-per-view.