The UFC is exonerating strawweight Cortney Casey of any wrongdoing after failing a drug test in the state of Texas.
Following her upset win over Jessica Aguilar last month at UFC 211, Casey’s win was overturned after she failed a drug test given to her by the state of Texas. Casey did not fail any drug tests given to her by the U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the UFC’s official anti-doping partner.
Jeff Novitzky, UFC vice president of athlete health and performance, recently talked about Casey’s case with MMA Fighting.
“Her slightly elevated T:E ratio was just a product of her natural physiology and not anything she did wrong,” Novitzky said. “She didn’t cheat. A T:E ratio, in and of itself, especially mildly high, is never grounds for a public announcement of a positive test.
“I believe it’s sickening how Cortney has been treated by the Texas commission throughout this. From my experience, the worst thing you can do in anti-doping is a public announcement of a false positive test and that’s what Texas did to her.”
Even though Casey will receive no punishment from the UFC, the biggest win of her career was still overturned to a no-contest.
“Even now with the result in my favor, people will just say I found a loophole,” Casey told MMA Fighting. “I will always be considered a cheater in some people’s eyes. If you look at the science, there is no loophole to it. It sucks. It just sucks.”
