UFC reiterates support for USADA after credibility concerns from Mayweather scandal

Questions about USADA's credibility have sprung up following a hard hitting piece from SBNation that detailed several somewhat questionable practices throughout the years. In the article titled 'Can Boxing trust USADA?', it also highlighted the way they handled an illegal IV Floyd Mayweather took, where they kept the NAC and Pacquiao's camp in the dark, and retroactively granted an exemption weeks after the match ended.

While USADA has released an official statement to say that the piece had "significant inaccuracies" that they claim will be "addressed at the appropriate time", questions about their integrity still remain. The UFC recently partnered up with USADA to handle additional testing for their MMA fighters, and in the wake of the recent controversies, the promotion has reiterated their full support for the anti-doping agency.

"Based on 15 years of working with them and seeing how they make decisions and seeing how those decisions are ethical and how every single time they adhere to carrying out the WADA code, I have 100 percent confidence that we have enlisted the gold standard, best anti-doping agency in the world," UFC VP of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky told MMA Fighting.

"And all of our athletes should have that same trust and confidence," Novitzky said. "I haven't lost any of that in USADA. They're the best."

Related: NAC overruled USADA on Frank Mir Adderall exemption for UFC 191? | Pacquiao and Arum 'vindicated' after Mayweather IV TUE scandal

The UFC's drug czar joined the promotion in April of 2015 to spearhead the organization's anti-doping efforts. Prior to his new role in Mixed Martial Arts, Novitzky worked at the FDA and IRS and specialized in investigating PED use in sports.