Henry Cejudo receives first 75 clean USADA test award; Derek Brunson, Brian Ortega hit 50
LAS VEGAS – A trio of high-profile UFC fighters were honored for their clean testing records under the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency program.
After the official weigh-ins for UFC 285, former two-division champion Henry Cejudo, featherweight Brian Ortega, and middleweight Derek Brunson received awards for their milestones.
All three received a jacket for 50 clean tests, but Cejudo (16-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) added another medal to his collection for reaching 75, becoming the first athlete to reach the number and receive the pin award.
“Henry’s got a unique story, because, in addition to the UFC program, Henry is an Olympic USA wrestler gold-medalist, was under the USADA program previous to the UFC,” UFC senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky said. “So all combined, Henry has 82 perfect test history under the USADA program. … I think it’s noteworthy here that when it’s all said and done with Henry – Olympic gold medalist, two-division UFC champion – another part of his story is that he did it all clean. You just don’t see that at the professional sports level with the body of work that he has, proving to the world that he did it the right way.”
Cejudo is targeted to return to action to face Aljamain Sterling in a bantamweight title fight at UFC 288. “The Messenger” retired after finishing Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020. Ortega (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) was last seen in action last July, looking to rebound from a title challenge loss to Alexander Volkanovski. Brunson (23-8 MMA, 14-6 UFC) steps into the cage at UFC 285 to challenge Dricus Du Plessis.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 285.