So pissed off someone came over this morning I thought it was @usantidoping @USADA_UFC they took my blood and everything and come to find out these people went to the wrong house address and did not work for usada WTF!!!!!
— Dan Ige (@Dynamitedan808) April 18, 2019
A strange situation in the world of MMA developed this morning, when Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight Dan Ige gave blood to a tester unaffiliated with the promotion or U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Ige posted on Twitter Thursday morning that he awoke at 6:30 a.m. to what he believed to be USADA coming to collect a sample. After giving blood, he found out they inadvertently came to the wrong house and were not USADA testers. He also put up a video on his Instagram page discussing the incident.
He posted a series of messages, saying:
“So pissed off someone came over this morning I thought it was @usantidoping @USADA_UFC they took my blood and everything and come to find out these people went to the wrong house address and did not work for usada WTF!!!!!”
“I’m so mad, and sure of this is my fault… When someone rings your doorbell six times at 6:30 AM saying they’re here to take your blood I was just cooperating thinking it’s USADA now I probably have aids”
Understandable that this process can become routine and at 630am you can be in a daze. But a good reminder to UFC athletes that USADA DCO’s carry credentials that they should show you and you should verify before submitting to any sample collection.
— Jeff Novitzky (@JeffNovitzkyUFC) April 18, 2019
UFC Vice President of Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky chimed in after seeing Ige’s messages. In a series of responses, Novitzky reminded Ige and other athletes that the USADA officials should present or be requested of their credentials before collecting samples. He also claimed that the promotion has been in contact with Ige, and offered assistance in determining how this mistake happened.
Novitzky replied:
“Understandable that this process can become routine and at 630am you can be in a daze. But a good reminder to UFC athletes that USADA DCO’s carry credentials that they should show you and you should verify before submitting to any sample collection.”
“The UFC has been in contact with Dan this morning, and while it looks like this sample collection was intended for a neighbor and completely unrelated to USADA or the UFC, we advised Dan to contact law enforcement and we will support Dan to track down the details of this mistake.”
Ige was still able to make light of the situation, saying, “Yeah well hopefully other athletes can learn from my situation. And hopefully I don’t have any clones.”
Ige last competed at UFC Fight Night 147 in March, tapping out Danny Henry with a rear-naked choke in 67 seconds and handing Henry his first career stoppage loss. Since dropping his UFC debut to Julio Arce at UFC 220 in January 2018, Ige has rattled off three straight wins including finishes over Mike Santiago and Henry, while beating Jordan Griffin on the scorecards.