UFC Drug Testing Explained: How the Anti-Doping Programme Works After USADA

Image: Andrius Petrucenia (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Since 31 December 2023 the UFC's drug testing has been run by an independent administrator called Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), not by USADA. CSAD chooses who gets tested, reviews results and hands out every suspension. The UFC itself makes no results management or sanctioning decisions under the current policy.

The work is split three ways. Drug Free Sport International (DFSI) collects and ships the samples, using more than 5,000 collection staff worldwide; it also works for the NFL, MLB, FIFA, the PGA Tour and the NCAA, and it has no power to decide violations. Samples go to the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake City, a lab accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. SMRTL's president, Dr Daniel Eichner, is the programme's science adviser and helps plan tests and interpret results.

CSAD is led by George Piro, a former FBI special agent with more than 20 years at the Bureau, including leading the team that interrogated Saddam Hussein. He is also a no-gi jiu-jitsu masters world champion. All of the rules sit in public documents on ufcantidoping.com: the Anti-Doping Policy, the Prohibited List, the Whereabouts Policy, the therapeutic use exemption rules and the arbitration rules.

The UFC hired USADA to run its testing in 2015, and the partnership ended on 1 January 2024 after a public row over Conor McGregor. USADA announced in October 2023 that the UFC had told it on 9 October that it was "going in a different direction", and USADA chief executive Travis Tygart called the relationship untenable.

The flashpoint was the return-from-retirement rule. McGregor had left the testing pool after breaking his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021. Under the old rules a returning fighter needed six months in the pool and two clean tests, but the UFC could waive the six months where the rule would be unfair to the athlete. USADA said it had told the UFC there should be no exception for McGregor.

The UFC disputed USADA's account. Chief business officer Hunter Campbell said the company had always told USADA that McGregor would serve the full six months, and the UFC sent USADA a legal letter demanding a retraction. Dana White said the promotion would hire an independent company instead, and that became CSAD, DFSI and SMRTL.

Every fighter with a UFC contract is in the programme from the day the contract starts until they give the UFC written notice that they have retired. Testing is no-notice and can happen 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, anywhere in the world, at home, at the gym or in fight week.

The policy draws a clear line between in-competition and out-of-competition testing. "In-competition" starts at noon on the day before the fight card and ends when the fighter's post-fight sample has been collected (or, if no sample is taken, when they are medically cleared after the bout). Some substances on the Prohibited List are only banned in that window; others, including diuretics such as furosemide and drugs such as meldonium, are banned at all times.

UFC testing sits on top of state and national athletic commission rules, not instead of them. The policy itself tells fighters they are also bound by the commission where they compete. When Douglas Silva de Andrade tested positive before a Las Vegas bout in 2025, CSAD noted that the Nevada Athletic Commission kept jurisdiction because his fight was scheduled in Nevada.

Fighters in the UFC Registered Testing Pool have to tell the programme where they are every day, so testers can turn up unannounced. They file a whereabouts report when they join the pool and every quarter after that, and they must update it as soon as plans change and before collectors start looking for them.

Each filing lists an overnight address for every day of the quarter, one daily training or work location with usual times, travel details such as flight numbers, and the fighter's bout schedule. Vague entries do not count: the policy's own example of an unacceptable entry is "running in RedRock National Park".

A whereabouts failure is recorded for a missed filing deadline, an update that comes too late, information too thin to find the fighter, or not being where the filing says. Three failures in a rolling twelve-month period is a policy violation carrying anything from a reprimand to two years, depending on fault. Fighters must be told of each apparent failure within 14 days and get 14 days to explain, and after a third they can ask an independent panel to review all three.

Conor McGregor is the best-known case. CSAD announced on 7 October 2025 that he had accepted an 18-month ban for missed collection attempts on 13 June, 19 September and 20 September 2024. The standard 24 months was cut by six because he was injured and not preparing for a fight at the time and because he cooperated fully. His ban ran from 20 September 2024 to 20 March 2026.

Image: Haydn Hammerton (CC BY 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

A fighter new to the UFC must sign and be available for testing for at least one month before their debut. The same one-month rule applies to a fighter the UFC let go and later re-signs. The policy allows that window to be waived in set circumstances, which is how short-notice debutants and late replacements still get on cards.

A fighter who retired, or walked away from their contract, needs much longer: they must give written notice that they intend to return and then be available for testing for 180 days before fighting again. The UFC can still grant an exemption "in exceptional circumstances" or where the rule would be manifestly unfair, the same kind of clause that sat at the heart of the McGregor dispute with USADA.

Two extra rules stop fighters retiring their way out of a ban. Anyone who retires while suspended must give 180 days' notice, or notice equal to the ban left to run if that is longer, before returning. And a ban handed to a fighter who is already retired is frozen until they announce a comeback and re-enter testing. A new or returning fighter with an admitted or established history of using serious banned substances while outside any anti-doping programme can be held to 180 days and two negative samples before being cleared.

The UFC Prohibited List stayed broadly the same when CSAD took over, and it is modelled on the World Anti-Doping Agency's in-competition and out-of-competition lists. SMRTL also runs a high share of "special analysis" tests that look specifically for EPO, testosterone and human growth hormone.

The two notable changes were announced in December 2023. Marijuana was taken off the prohibited list, although fighters can still be caught by commission rules where they compete. And the policy brought in Decision Concentration Levels: thresholds for certain substances that separate deliberate use from tiny amounts picked up through contamination.

Where a substance has a Decision Concentration Level, a finding below it is not treated as a violation in itself. Above it, the fighter can still challenge the result, and the policy gives extra protection to samples that sit only marginally over the line, with a separate standard once a sample is more than 20% above the level. It is a direct response to years of fighters losing time to trace contamination under the old programme.

The starting points are set out in Article 10 of the policy, and CSAD then adjusts them for fault, cooperation and aggravating factors:

• Two years for a non-specified substance or method, the category for the most serious performance enhancers, including meldonium.
• One year for a specified substance or method.
• Up to two years extra on either of those where there are aggravating circumstances.
• Reprimand to two years for three whereabouts failures, with no leniency where a pattern of last-minute changes suggests a fighter was dodging testers.
• Four years to life for trafficking or giving banned substances to someone else.

Real cases show how far those numbers move. Maryna Moroz tested positive for meldonium in samples from June and July 2025; her standard two years was halved to one because a doctor had been treating her with it, she used it for a limited time with no fight booked and she cooperated. CSAD still counted against her that she had not told her doctor she was a tested athlete or applied for an exemption.

Douglas Silva de Andrade got six months for furosemide, a diuretic, from a sample taken in Brazil on 14 February 2025. CSAD found the drug in his supplement and in a sealed tub it bought independently, accepted the use was not intentional, but still banned him because the product had not been through an approved third-party testing programme. If a fighter proves with clear and convincing evidence that a positive came from a contaminated product or a certified supplement, the policy says there is no violation at all, though they cannot fight until follow-up tests are clean.

A fighter who genuinely needs a banned medication can apply for a therapeutic use exemption (TUE). The policy asks for applications at least 21 days before use when no fight is booked, at least 90 days ahead when a bout is more than 90 days away, and as soon as practicable when a fight is within 90 days.

CSAD must grant or refuse within 21 days of receiving the complete file, though it can ask for more medical evidence first and will still consider late applications. An exemption lasts only for the term granted and can be withdrawn if its conditions are not met. The Moroz case shows the cost of skipping this step: a medicine given by a doctor still became a one-year ban.

CSAD announces sanctions as statements on UFC.com, usually with the sample date, the substance, the ban dates and the reasons it was reduced or not. Those statements are the most reliable source when a fighter is pulled from a card, because early reports often confuse a provisional suspension with a final ban.

The UFC anti-doping site also carries an approved supplements page, a test history section and every policy document. Anyone with information about doping in the UFC can report it to CSAD's tip line at tipline@csad.org.

For how failed tests, missed weight and overturned results fit into the bigger rulebook, read our guides to the Unified Rules of MMA, weigh-ins and weight cutting and how MMA fights end, including no contests.

• UFC: UFC announces details of new anti-doping program
• UFC: Athlete Health and Performance
• UFC Anti-Doping Program: policy documents
• UFC Anti-Doping Policy (English PDF)
• UFC Whereabouts Policy (English PDF)
• UFC: Conor McGregor accepts 18-month sanction for whereabouts failures
• UFC: Statement on Maryna Moroz
• UFC: Statement on Douglas Silva de Andrade
• ESPN: USADA reveals imminent split from UFC amid McGregor testing saga

Does the UFC still use USADA for drug testing?

No. The UFC's partnership with USADA, which began in 2015, ended on 1 January 2024. Testing is now run by Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), an independent administrator led by former FBI agent George Piro, with Drug Free Sport International collecting samples and the WADA-accredited SMRTL laboratory in Salt Lake City analysing them. CSAD, not the UFC, decides every suspension.

How often are UFC fighters drug tested?

There is no fixed number. Every contracted UFC fighter can be tested without notice at any time of day, every day of the year, anywhere in the world, plus in the in-competition window that runs from noon the day before the card until the post-fight sample. Athletic commissions can also test fighters separately for events they regulate.

Is marijuana banned in the UFC?

Not under the UFC's own policy. Marijuana was removed from the UFC Prohibited List when the new anti-doping policy took effect on 31 December 2023. Fighters are still bound by the rules of the athletic commission where they compete, so a positive test on fight night can still cause problems with that commission even though the UFC programme no longer sanctions it.

Why was Conor McGregor suspended for 18 months?

McGregor missed three sample collection attempts in 2024, on 13 June, 19 and 20 September, which counts as three whereabouts failures within twelve months. The standard ban is two years, but CSAD cut it by six months because he was injured, was not preparing for a fight and cooperated fully. The ban ran from 20 September 2024 to 20 March 2026.

How long does a retired fighter have to be tested before returning to the UFC?

A fighter who retired or chose to leave their contract must give the UFC written notice and then be available for testing for 180 days before fighting again. The UFC can waive this in exceptional circumstances or where the rule would be manifestly unfair. A brand new signing only needs to be in the testing pool for one month before a debut.

What is the standard ban for a failed UFC drug test?

Two years for a non-specified substance such as meldonium, and one year for a specified substance, with up to two extra years for aggravating circumstances. CSAD then adjusts for fault and cooperation, so real bans vary widely: Maryna Moroz received one year for meldonium and Douglas Silva de Andrade six months for a contaminated supplement.