Welcome to the Wednesday edition of the Knockdown Daily. We have a few big mid-week stories for you today, plus the usual notes section for the smaller rumblings happening around the sport.
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UFC, USADA To End Partnership After Eight Years
UFC’s partnership with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the most wide-reaching and ambitious testing program in the sport’s history to date, will come to an end after eight years of operation. USADA announced Wednesday that they will stop being the drug testing body for the UFC on January 1st, 2024.
USADA announced the end of their partnership with UFC in the same press release where they revealed that Conor McGregor had re-entered their testing program on Sunday. One day later, they claim they were notified by the UFC that they would soon stop working together.
“Despite a positive and productive meeting about a contract renewal in May 2023, the UFC did an about-face and informed USADA on Monday, October 9, that it was going in a different direction,” the statement said.
Per USADA policy, a fighter that exited the testing program must undergo two tests and be in their system for a total of six months before returning to competition — explaining why McGregor had to enter the program before getting booked for any possible fight. The statement from USADA speculates that their relationship with the UFC became “untenable” due to their unwillingness to make an exception for McGregor and let him skip the re-entry process.
USADA also notes that since they are no longer the testing body for UFC as of next year, McGregor might be able to bypass the six months needed for a fighter to sit out after re-entering the pool. Instead, he could be back to competition as early as January.
UFC first started working with USADA in July 2015. The program launched with the goal of testing every UFC fighter roughly five times a year. USADA tested athletes year-round, including “out-of-competition” samples, where they would visit fighters to register tests. The program was an attempt by the UFC to have an independent testing body that was able to oversee all of their events.
While different athletic commissions around the world have and continue to test fighters, they can only rule over events that take place within the geographic location that their sanctioning body covers. For example, a fighter suspended by an athletic commission in Nevada can still compete in other states in the U.S. or other parts of the world. USADA suspensions would stop fighters from competing in any UFC event for months to years at a time.
The massive and expansive USADA program for the UFC concluding is the end of an era for the UFC.
Kamaru Usman Set To Face Khamzat Chimaev At UFC 294 In Middleweight Debut
Just hours after a massive change came to the UFC 294 main event, the co-main event suffered a tweak as well.
Due to medical issues, Paulo Costa has been forced out of his fight against undefeated contender Khamzat Chimaev. Replacing him will be former UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman, who will be making his middleweight debut in the fight. The change, which was rumored throughout Wednesday, was announced by the UFC via social media.
The new fight will take place on October 21st at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
Costa was pulled from his fight against Chimaev due to an elbow infection that has caused him troubles recently. Earlier this week, Costa mentioned that he had surgery on his right elbow recently to deal with an infected bursa. This caused concern for UFC CEO Dana White, who said that the promotion was considering pulling him from his fight due to this medical issue.
Costa revealed Wednesday that he had to do a second surgery on his right arm this week and that another one will be needed — meaning there is no way he can compete at UFC 294. Costa’s fight against Chimaev was scheduled to be his first appearance since his August 2022 win over Luke Rockhold.
Usman has never fought higher than welterweight as a pro. He is making the move up to the 185-pound division after losing a series of bouts to Leon Edwards in recent years.
Edwards took the UFC Welterweight Championship from Usman in 2022, scoring a fifth-round head kick knockout to gain the belt. They rematched this year, with Edwards taking the win via majority decision.
Chimaev, an undefeated pro with 12 wins, will be looking for his seventh UFC victory next week. He is appearing for the first time since UFC 279 when weight issues forced him out of a fight against Nate Diaz and caused him to face Kevin Holland instead. He submitted Holland in the first round with a darce choke.
UFC Announces First-Ever Saudi Arabia Event For March 2024
UFC will partner with the Saudi General Entertainment Authority to hold their first-ever event in Saudi Arabia on March 2nd, 2024.
The plan is for a “Fight Night” card to be held on that date, although no names have been confirmed yet. Marc Raimondi of ESPN was the first to report the event.
Saudi Arabia has aggressively ventured into professional sports in recent years. A report from The Guardian in July stated that Saudi Arabia had spent $6 billion in sports deals since early 2021 through its Public Investment Fund (PIF). This money has gone towards securing top athletes to play in leagues established within the country — Christian Ronaldo joining football club Al-Nassr for example — and also bringing major sporting events to the country.
PIF bought a minority stake in the PFL earlier this year. The upcoming boxing match between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou and Tyson Fury is in partnership with Riyadh Season, a festival sponsored by Saudi Arabia.
Many have criticized Saudi Arabia’s investments as “sportswashing,” which Sports Illustrated’s Michael Rosenberg defines as: “the use of sports to present a sanitized, friendlier version of a political regime or operation.” Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman has brushed off such claims, stating that he will “continue doing sportswashing” if it’s “going to increase my GDP by one percent.”
Notes On: UFC, KSW & Invicta FC
UFC has booked “Dana White’s Contender Series” winners Serhiy Sidey (10-1) and Ramon Taveras (9-2) in a rematch for their January 20th pay-per-view event. Sidey earned a contract in September with a first-round finish win over Taveras that many considered an early stoppage. Taveras joined the roster on the final episode of the season, beating Cortavious Romious in just 29 seconds.
Two fights have joined KSW 88, which will take place on November 11th in Radom, Poland.
Returning to KSW for the first time since 2018, Marcin Wojcik (18-8) will meet six-fight UFC vet Luis Henrique da Silva (19-9) in a light heavyweight bout. Wojcik is currently on a four-fight winning streak, including a 2022 win in the PFL.
Riding the momentum of a head kick finish in his KSW debut from earlier this year, Ramzan Jembiev (4-1) will face Danu Tarchila (6-2) at featherweight. Tarchila took a loss in his last fight, dropping a decision to Patryk Kaczmarczyk.
Former UFC fighter Kalindra Faria (19-9-1) will make her Invicta FC debut against Valesca Machado (12-4) at the promotion’s October 27th event, per an announcement made Wednesday. Faria was on the UFC roster from 2017 to 2018, departing after losing three consecutive appearances.