USADA Reveals What Led To Inaccurate Data On Brock Lesnar's UFC Drug Testing
The rumor mill went to work earlier this week after drug testing data on WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar "went missing" from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) website. ESPN reports that USADA has acknowledged that a recent "technical glitch" led to the inaccurate data.
An update made back in mid-October showed Lesnar had submitted 6 drug tests in 2018, but that number was recently changed to just 5 tests. USADA stated that the original update was flawed, and the current figure reflects the accurate number of tests Lesnar has submitted in 2018 – 5. ESPN adds that it appears Lesnar was the only athlete affected by the glitch.
USADA updates all testing data in an Athlete Test History database on a public website throughout the year. The database does not include results but it does show how many times a UFC fighter or Olympic athlete has been tested that year.
"USADA updates the Athlete Test History page of the UFC/USADA website on a weekly basis," USADA spokesperson Adam Woullard told ESPN. "During an update on the week of October 15th, we experienced a technical issue that resulted in the information on the page being displayed incorrectly. The correct test history for the athlete is one test [that week], not two. The issue has been fixed and the testing numbers on the website are all accurate. We are still investigating the specific technical issue that led to the error."
Jeff Novitzky, UFC's Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance, told ESPN that they have no concerns over the glitch.
"I have access to a more specific database than the public, which displays the date a sample is collected, what type of sample it is and what the results are as soon as they are available," Novitzky said. "The public website, as I understand it, indicated there had been two tests during this last quarter, and it recently dropped to one. I have always seen one test in this quarter for Lesnar. It was a urine test and it came back negative."
Novitzky also said he is comfortable with how USADA has tested Lesnar since he re-entered the testing pool back in the summer.
"This program has a limited amount of resources and funding," Novitzky said. "It would be great to test everybody every week, but that would cost millions and millions of dollars. To put it in a nutshell, I have all the confidence in the world USADA is allocating these testing resources appropriately."
Lesnar has not fought for UFC since 2016 but he re-entered the UFC testing pool back in July of this year. It's rumored that he will face UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier in early 2019 but that fight is far from confirmed. Lesnar would be eligible to compete on or after January 8. Lesnar is expected to defend his WWE Universal Title against Braun Strowman at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 27.
Source: ESPN