White blasts USADA, says split announcement was a 'dirty move'

Dana White isn't happy with the way USADA announced the ending of its longtime partnership with the UFC.

"Let me just start with this: It wasn't an announcement. It was a dirty move by them," the UFC president said Thursday on "The Pat McAfee Show." "There was no announcement yesterday. That was straight-up scumbag-ism what happened yesterday."

USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart announced in a statement Wednesday that the agency would no longer oversee the UFC's anti-doping program effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Tygart said USADA's relationship with the UFC had become "untenable" mainly due to the significant discord between the two sides in the recent Conor McGregor testing saga. USADA maintained that McGregor must be in the drug-testing pool for six months before being eligible to compete. However, White suggested the UFC could exempt McGregor from the rule.

USADA has run the UFC's anti-doping program since July 2015, testing fighters in and out of competition.

It's unclear what the next era of anti-doping in the UFC will look like, but White said Thursday the promotion plans to partner with another independent company to oversee its program.

"It's the best way to do it," White said. "We have a standard that we've set here. But a lot of people are not happy with USADA. Our deal is up at the end of the year, and we're working on going in another direction - especially after the dirty scumbag move that they pulled yesterday."