"In the early days of the program, USADA 'were showing up at my house every week,' Tavares said after receiving the accolade. That made the Hawaiian question 'is this what life is going to be like now? This was in early 2016 I believe. And I was like 'is this what life is going to be like now? Every week they just show up randomly at odd times?'"
"This is cool. I'll be honest, when they first told us back in 2015, I was all for it as far as having to face other clean athletes. You guys all know everybody that was on steroids and whatnot before."
"I've always advocated and wanted UFC Hawaii, and there's been like two times I feel like that the talks got close. But I came to the realization that it will never happen, in my career I don't think anyway. If it ever does, I'll stick around a little longer just to make sure I get one."
Brad Tavares, a middleweight with 16 years in the UFC, achieved the milestone of 50 clean drug tests under the organization's anti-doping program, earning a letterman jacket. Tavares experienced the evolution of UFC drug testing from the pre-USADA era through USADA and the current CSAD system, spanning approximately 4,000 days. Initially subjected to frequent unannounced testing visits, his consistently clean results led testers to reduce testing frequency. Tavares supports the anti-doping initiative for ensuring fair competition among clean athletes. He also discussed the UFC's potential expansion to Hawaii, expressing skepticism about the event occurring before his retirement despite his long advocacy for it.
Read at Cageside Press
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