“I would be lying if I said it was not extremely draining,” says Magny. “It’s like an emotional roller coaster. One week I would have good news, one week would be like “hey, we need more time to clear things up.” Week after week, month after month, a new set of things to manage. “
“From what I know of Neil, as soon as I saw the result and the level, I knew that it was a case of contamination and not an intentional use”, explains Jeff Novitzky, senior vice president of the ‘UFC for the health and performance of athletes. “Once we put these reviews in place, his case was essentially excused. The only reason it was made public is that he chose to talk about it. I think it gives him even more credibility to the fact that Neil did nothing wrong. He did not need to publicly disclose that this had happened. He did, however. We have been successful and we are happy to see it again. “
“There was a period of frustration through it all, but now, more than anything, he’s just excited to be back there,” said Sean Madden, one of Magny’s coaches at Denver’s Elevation MMA. “He’s just had a baby, he’s his first child, so he has extra fuel for the fire coming back to the Octagon. I think we’ve sort of gone through all of these other stages now we’re just motivated, excited to go back and play. ”