Paulo Costa was recently fined by the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) for an undisclosed violation. USADA is now looking into the matter.
It may or may not bode well for “Borrachinha,” who said that the result was triggered by his use of a stomach medication before a 2017 fight.
In a recent interview with the UFC Unfiltered podcast, UFC vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitzky did indeed confirm USADA’s interest in the Costa case. But he refused to comment any further on the matter (via MMAFighting):
“I don’t have any comment on that,” Novitzky said. “My understanding is that New York has issued him a fine or a sanction and that USADA is still evaluating this. It’s not until cases are adjudicated and resolved that we comment on them. So I’m not gonna comment on that one right now.”
Earlier this month the NYSAC handed Costa a $9,333.33 fine despite the Brazilian not competing there since ending Johny Hendricks UFC back in November of 2017.
Costa’s Story
Costa has denied using banned substances all along and said he did not fail a drug test. He told the Brazilian website Combate that he used the stomach medication Plasil in 2017, which led to the NYSAC sanction.
“[Romero] came back from a reality show and could finally sign the contract,” Costa told Combate. “(But) on the same week the New York Athletic Commission asked me to talk about a stomach medication I had used.
”And they said: ‘For you to talk about this, unfortunately, you won’t be able to fight. You will be ineligible for this fight because you have to notify us about what you used for your stomach.’ It was a simple medication, Plasil. That’s not doping. You take it when you have stomach pain. So, because of that, I didn’t understand it too, but they said I couldn’t fight, that I had to figure this out first.”
Costa is one of the most promising middleweight prospects. Boasting a record of 12-0, “Borrachinha” has looked unbeatable at times.
This UFC Fort Lauderdale card has changed a lot due to Costa’s subsequent removal. In the end, however, we get an exciting middleweight main event in Jacare Souza vs. Jack Hermansson.
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