Cortney Casey returns to action this Saturday Night on the preliminary card of UFC 218, where she faces Felice Herrig.
Following a decision win over Jessica Aguilar at UFC 211, the Texas Department Of Licensing & Regulation (TDLR) said she failed a drug test. The problem was that Casey was completely innocent on all drug test related charges, but that hasn’t stopped the fighter from still feeling the hit financially.
“I was getting 3 fights a year, consistently, and this year I didn’t. It hurt me financially. There was a short notice fight I was going to be offered, but it went to someone else because I was suspended. I lost some sponsors over this as well, because they didn’t want to be tied to someone whose name was linked to steroids. They saw the articles you wrote and apologized, but the other articles are still out there, so it’s easier for them to just not have to explain,” Casey said to Bloody Elbow.
Throughout the whole ordeal, the UFC stood by the fighter until the whole situation with the TDLR was resolved.
Speaking of the promotion, the fighter has nothing but good things to say about how the UFC helped her throughout the mess.
“Jeff Novitzky has been 100% super supportive, everyone in the UFC was. Even the USADA testers that have come out throughout this camp were super supportive and were happy that their program worked to not just find cheaters, but protect innocent athletes, so it was good to have the support of USADA and the UFC. They pointed me to a good lawyer and stuff as well, and I couldn’t be happier with how the UFC handled it in general,” says Casey.
UFC 218 takes place on Saturday, December 2 from the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan with Max Holloway and Jose Aldo headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
