Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) partnered with United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) back in June to oversee drug testing for the world's premier mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion and to co-exist with local governing bodies.
However, with news swirling (via SB Nation) of boxing's pound-for-pound best Floyd Mayweather receiving a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned IV injection to rehydrate prior to his victory over Manny Pacquaio back on May 2 in Las Vegas, Nevada, and USADA's retroactive therapeutic-use exemption (TUE), the latter's relationship with the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) has come into question.
USADA doesn't have the authority to grant TUE's to any combat sports athlete, according to NSAC executive director Bob Bennett (via MMA Fighting).
"The Nevada State Athletic Commission is the only body that can authorize a therapeutic use exemption in the state of Nevada," said Bennett.
NSAC's own doctor has the final say as to whether an athlete will be granted a TUE or not, which was exactly the case when two-time UFC Heavyweight champion applied for one prior to his co-main event spot against Andrei Arlovski (lowlights here) on the UFC 191 pay-per-view (PPV), which took place inside MGM Grand Garden Arena on Sept. 5, 2015.
Jeff Novitzky, UFC's vice president of Athlete Performance and Health, granted Mir a TUE for Adderall -- essentially a drug that helps one focus -- on behalf of USADA, but it was denied in the final hour by Bennett and NSAC because "there was not enough time."
A fighter must "fill out our paperwork and provide us with documentation from their doctors," Bennett said.
Mir never submitted a TUE exemption with NSAC and was told by Novitzky to discontinue his use of Adderall. He is also allowed to publicly speak on the 36-year-old Mir's situation because the former gave UFC permission to do so.
USADA will continue to grant TUE's to fighters, partly because the organization will test UFC's roster of 500+ fighters at least 2,750 times per year, even if fighter's are not licensed for an upcoming bout.
USADA's "medical experts decide whether or not athletes should be allowed to use it." If they're unable to come to an agreement, USADA's medical science director makes the final call.
In the wake of these controversial reports on both Mayweather and Mir, Novitzky gave the following statement lending his full support to USADA:
"Based on 15 years of working with them and seeing how they make decisions and seeing how those decisions are ethical and how every single time they adhere to carrying out the WADA code, I have 100 percent confidence that we have enlisted the gold standard, best anti-doping agency in the world and all of our athletes should have that same trust and confidence. I haven't lost any of that in USADA. They're the best."