Morning Report: Ben Askren suggests Jiri Prochazka could sue USADA over excessive testing

Ben Askren thinks Jiri Prochazka has grounds to sue USADA.

In 2022, Prochazka has been the most tested athlete in the UFC by far, with a staggering 64 tests at the time of writing. It’s something Prochazka admitted can be bothersome, and when Ben Askren broke down the numbers to Daniel Cormier recently, you can see why.

“2017, the average amount of tests per athlete was four and a half,” Askren told Cormier on Cormier’s YouTube channel. “2018, four tests per athlete. 2019, six. 2021, six. 2022, [five and a half] average tests per athlete. Over the course of all of those years, the most tested athlete in a single year was Misha Cirkunov at 27. We’re talking about thousands of athletes!”

“If they cut his test by 70 percent, he’d still be the second most tested athlete out of 700 something…Literally he is being tested more than any athlete, not only in MMA, he is being tested more than any athlete, by double, that is tested by USADA. Any sport.”

“If I were Jiri, I might have my lawyer send USADA a message saying, ‘I need some explanations on why you’re testing me this much,” Askren continued.

“749 fighters currently in the UFC, No. 1 most tested, Jiri Prochazka, 64 tests. There are only two other people that have been tested over 20 times. Only two others!… Only 36 athletes, out of 750, that’s less than five percent, have been tested 10 times. So nine or less for 713 fighters. Jiri needs to say what is your explanation?! USADA, why are you testing me this much?”

Askren’s numbers are slightly off, with 755 total athletes encompassed in USADA’s testing this year, however, with 4183 total samples collect, Prochazka alone still accounts of 1.5% of USADA’s total testing in 2022, which is extremely high, given the huge athlete pool.

As for why Prochazka seems to be on USADA’s hit list, Askren offered a few theories.

“Number one, like you said, he’s dirty and they know he’s dirty and they just can’t figure out how to catch him,” Askren said. “That’s the obvious number one. Number two, there is like a Polish USADA branch and they need to get a certain amount of tests and there are only like four athletes so they just test him all the time because he’s close to the station.”

It was at this point that Cormier informed Askren that Prochazka is actually from the Czech Republic. After acknowledging his mistake, with a “close enough,” Askren then continued, with his most sensational possible explanation.

“Number three, I think this is a likely scenario because you know they contract people out, Daniel — I had this old dude who would always come to do my tests, he’s got a person or a couple of people — the person that tests him likes looking at his junk. They’re like, ‘Hey, I like your c***, let me stare at it.’ That’s definitely possible! [Laughs].”

At this point, the conversation gets off the rails, but outside of the obvious joking nature of some of it, Askren does ultimately believe Prochazka is getting a raw deal.

“Once every six days?!,” Askren said. “I’m suing! Sue them! Jiri, sue USADA.”

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Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

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