The bloodsuckers at USADA, charged with pre- and post-fight drug testing for UFC, used to have carte blanche when it came to drawing plasma under its “Whereabouts” policy, which is how dehydrated middleweight contender Paulo Costa got forced into a blood test in the waning hours of his UFC 278 weight cut.
Not surprisingly, “The Eraser” blew his stack after making weight.
“That will never happen again to any fighter,” UFC President Dana White told reporters at the UFC 278 post-fight press conference. “Listen, they don’t know about fighting the way that people who know about fighting know about fighting. You don’t go in and test a guy at six in the morning when he’s cutting weight. The result’s going to be the same a few hours later. You wait. I apologized to [Costa] on stage when he came out, and that won’t happen to another fighter again.”
USADA’s round-the-clock policy has led to some truly awkward moments.
Fortunately, the interruption did little to hurt Costa’s performance when it counted. The Brazilian retired former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold in their “Fight of the Night” bonanza in the UFC 278 co-main event last weekend in Salt Lake City, snapping a two-fight losing streak in the process.
For more results and fallout from UFC 278 click here.