Vancouver, Canada — Two UFC veterans were honored on Wednesday as shining examples of clean athletes in combat sports.
During the UFC 289 media day in Vancouver, B.C., Amanda Nunes and Charles Oliveira were both honored for passing major milestones under the UFC Anti-Doping Program, which is administered by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
The program now recognizes athletes with a history of submitting clean drug tests. Neither Nunes nor Oliveira have ever tested positive for a banned substance.
Jeff Novitzky, UFC Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance, was on hand to award Nunes with a commemorative pin for reaching 75 clean tests under the USADA program. That’s a first for any fighter aside from Henry Cejudo— though Novitzky pointed out that some of Cejudo’s tests came from his Olympic days, where he was also under USADA’s purview.
Nunes, however, is the first fighter to reach 75 clean tests entirely within the UFC. “The Lioness” was previously honored with a letterman jacket for hitting 50 clean tests.
Oliveira received his own letterman jacket on Wednesday for hitting the 50 clean test milestone. “Do Bronx” has been with the UFC since 2010, competing at both featherweight and lightweight. After a decade of battling it out in the trenches, the Brazilian hit the height of mixed martial arts when he claimed the UFC lightweight championship in May of 2021, and defended his title twice.
Nunes, who holds gold at bantamweight and featherweight, headlines UFC 289 this Saturday opposite Irene Aldana. Oliveira anchors the co-main event in a key fight with Beneil Dariush.
