USADA and the UFC have been partnering together for quite some time now in an effort to make the sport better for all of the fighters competing in the Octagon.
The drug testing people are now introducing a new, friendlier device to make the blood testing process easier and UFC fighters will get to be the first to take advantage of the new device according to an announcement made by USADA.
TAP is what the new device is named and USADA is calling it “the world’s first push-button blood collection device.”
What TAP is supposed to do is to make the blood test more comfortable for fighter because TAP will take a smaller blood sample and then save it in the device itself.
Dr. Matthew Fedoruk is the USADA Senior Managing Director Of Science & Research and he says TAP will make it easier for both fighters and USADA itself in the blood testing process.
“We all know that blood collections can be unnerving,” Fedoruk said in the release. “This new device offers far more flexibility than existing blood draw methods, while advancing a painless collection method. Currently, around 10 percent of total samples collected from participating athletes worldwide are blood, due in large part to the complexities and expense surrounding existing blood collection procedures. If this pilot program proves successful, we believe this innovation will drive advancement in global anti-doping practices, making it easier for athletes to give, and anti-doping agencies to collect, ship and analyze, blood samples around the world.”
UFC fighters starting using TAP last year and thus far, no issues have been reported by either the UFC or USADA.
