Henry Cejudo was recently honored at a ceremony during UFC 285 fight week as the first UFC fighter to submit 75 clean drug tests to USADA.
The use of PEDs is a constant debate across virtually all forms of athletic competition, and in MMA it’s seemingly been an issue that’s existed since the earliest days of the sport. In 2015 the UFC began using USADA as the promotion’s official anti-doping partner, which has resulted in some high-profile issues for a number of fighters in the years since.
More often than not fighters on the UFC roster don’t run afoul of USADA, and even though the frequency of testing varies the promotion does make a point to honor fighters for significant testing milestones.
The ceremony during UFC 285 fight week included Derek Brunson and Brian Ortega each receiving jackets for reaching 50 clean tests, but the biggest news was former two-division champion Cejudo becoming the promotion’s first fighter to be tested 75 times without issue.
Henry Cejudo Pleased That “My Conscious Is Clean”
Jeff Novitzky noted that Cejudo has actually submitted 82 total clean tests to USADA dating back to his days as an Olympic wrestler, and “The Messenger” made a point to thank both Novitzky and Donna Marcolini for their efforts.
“First of all, thank you Jeff, thank you Donna, for bringing USADA into this. You know as an Olympic athlete since – I wanna say since 2004 I’ve been tested. And it’s just good to know that – and it happens at times, where you don’t know if the other side is clean. But just the fact that my conscious is clean with everything that I’ve done, I just wanna say thank you for bringing USADA and for keeping this sport as clean as you guys have.”
The 36-year-old’s comment about not knowing “if the other side is clean” could be directed at more than one of his previous opponents, but T.J. Dillashaw famously tested positive for EPO after being knocked out by Cejudo in just over 30 seconds.
After defending his flyweight belt against Dillashaw, the Olympic gold medalist went on to claim the bantamweight title by stopping Marlon Moraes at UFC 238. Cejudo defended that belt against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 before retiring from the sport, but the 36-year-old reentered the USADA testing pool last summer and is expected to return against current Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288.
What do you think of Cejudo’s achievement as the first UFC fighter to submit 75 clean USADA tests?
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