Twitter Reacts To Paulo Costa’s USADA Suspension

Earlier today (Fri., April 26, 2019) it was announced that UFC middleweight competitor Paulo Costa had received a six-month ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The suspension came after Costa used an IV prior to his UFC 212 win over Oluwale Bamgbose. He also apparently used one before his fight with Johny Hendricks […]

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Earlier today (Fri., April 26, 2019) it was announced that UFC middleweight competitor Paulo Costa had received a six-month ban from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

The suspension came after Costa used an IV prior to his UFC 212 win over Oluwale Bamgbose. He also apparently used one before his fight with Johny Hendricks at UFC 217 in November 2017. However, the retroactive suspension expired in February, so he’s eligible to return to action as of right now.

Initially, Costa was scheduled to face Yoel Romero at tomorrow’s UFC Ft. Lauderdale event. However, both men have since been removed from the card due to different issues. Check out how the mixed martial arts (MMA) media reacted to Costa’s suspension here:

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Dan Ige Reacts To Bizarre Mistaken Blood Draws

This is perhaps one of the strangest stories to come out of the UFC’s partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). And it doesn’t actually involve USADA. Mistaken Identity UFC featherweight fighter Dan Ige revealed on Twitter earlier today that someone came over to his house in the morning to take his blood for […]

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This is perhaps one of the strangest stories to come out of the UFC’s partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

And it doesn’t actually involve USADA.

Mistaken Identity

UFC featherweight fighter Dan Ige revealed on Twitter earlier today that someone came over to his house in the morning to take his blood for testing. However, he later found out that it wasn’t USADA who took the samples:

“So pissed off someone came over this morning I thought it was [USADA]. They took my blood and everything and come to find out these people went to the wrong house address and did not work for USADA WTF!!!!!

“I’m so mad, and sure of this is my fault… When someone rings your doorbell six times at 6:30 AM saying they’re here to take your blood I was just cooperating thinking it’s USADA now I probably have aids.”

USADA has been partnered with the UFC since 2015. During that time, fighters such as TJ Dillashaw, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, and many more have had issues with the agency. However, this is perhaps the most ridiculous story ever to come to light.

Fighters are used to having random samples taken at various times of the day, as USADA shows up for testing sporadically. Fighters such as UFC heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier have expressed displeasure with the practice. However, the lack of communication in Ige’s case, in particular, is staggering.

Ige Details Experience

Speaking to MMA Fighting on the incident, Ige explained that he’s used to USADA showing up randomly to collect samples:

“I’m used to that,” Ige said. “They usually show up, take my urine or take my blood. So I’m just kind of going through with it.”

However, Ige grew suspicious once the woman in charge of collecting samples broke usual procedure, and did not require him to fill out paperwork:

“I was like, ‘Alright, are we gonna do some paperwork?’” Ige said. “Because normally USADA will come and do everything on the iPad. My declaration of whatever supplements I’m taking. She was like, ‘Oh, no paperwork. Everything is digital.’ I thought, maybe she’s new or something.”

Before she left, the woman asked Ige for his last name, and then his first. It was then that they realized something had gone horribly wrong:

“She was like, ‘You’re not John?’” Ige said. “John? No, I’m not John. She just took all my blood and at this point I’m like, ‘OK, get the f*ck out of my house. She took [my blood]. I didn’t even think like, hey at least give me my vials of blood. She took my blood. She had like a creepy little smile, she was joking. But she was so nice, to be honest.

“I didn’t want to curse her out or anything. I was like, ‘alright, you can leave now.’ It’s just so weird, what are the odds that they came to my house where I’m used to getting early wakeup calls with blood or urine tests?”

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Cody Garbrandt Accused TJ Dillashaw Of Using EPO Last Year

News of TJ Dillashaw’s United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) issues has taken the mixed martial arts (MMA) community by surprise today. But it didn’t surprise his most bitter rival. In fact, Cody Garbrandt accused Dillashaw of using exactly what he was suspended for. Dillashaw was on the verge of cementing his legacy as one of, […]

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News of TJ Dillashaw’s United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) issues has taken the mixed martial arts (MMA) community by surprise today. But it didn’t surprise his most bitter rival. In fact, Cody Garbrandt accused Dillashaw of using exactly what he was suspended for.

Dillashaw was on the verge of cementing his legacy as one of, if not the, greatest bantamweights of all-time. Unfortunately, a failed drug test prior to his fight with Henry Cejudo in January has brought all of that into question. Dillashaw tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO), and was subsequently handed a two-year suspension by USADA.

He voluntarily relinquished his then-held bantamweight title once the news initially broke. He then did not contest the USADA suspension when it was announced today (Tues. April 9, 2019). Journalist Chisanga Malata? has also brought up a very interesting past tweet from Dillashaw’s former teammate-turned-rival Cody Garbrandt.

A year ago, Garbrandt tweeted out that all of the “EPO” was going to Dillashaw’s head. Now, a year later, that’s the exact substance USADA has busted “The Viper” for:

In the wake of Dillashaw’s exit from the division and his relinquishing of the bantamweight title, flyweight champion Henry Cejudo will challenge Marlon Moraes for the vacant throne. The fight takes place at UFC 238 on pay-per-view (PPV) on June 8.

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Twitter Reacts To TJ Dillashaw’s USADA Suspension

TJ Dillashaw’s recent issues with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have really taken the mixed martial arts (MMA) world by surprise. It was announced earlier today (Tues. April 9, 2019) that Dillashaw has received a two-year suspension from the anti-doping agency. The suspension was first reported by ESPN. Dillashaw tested positive for recombinant human […]

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TJ Dillashaw’s recent issues with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) have really taken the mixed martial arts (MMA) world by surprise.

It was announced earlier today (Tues. April 9, 2019) that Dillashaw has received a two-year suspension from the anti-doping agency. The suspension was first reported by ESPN. Dillashaw tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) prior to his flyweight title fight against Henry Cejudo in January. “The Viper” lost that fight via controversial first-round TKO.

Interestingly, Dillashaw didn’t contest the suspension, and will sit out the full two years before being eligible to return. Check out how the MMA community reacted to the news on Twitter here:

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Lyoto Machida: USADA Lost Credibility With Jon Jones Situation

Lyoto Machida believes that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) lost credibility after the Jon Jones situation. Jones was hit with a 15-month suspension after having a second run-in with the doping agency in 2017. Machida has a history with USADA as well, receiving an 18-month ban after admitting to using banned substance 7-keto-DHEA. In […]

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Lyoto Machida believes that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) lost credibility after the Jon Jones situation.

Jones was hit with a 15-month suspension after having a second run-in with the doping agency in 2017. Machida has a history with USADA as well, receiving an 18-month ban after admitting to using banned substance 7-keto-DHEA. In an interview with MMA Fighting, Machida believes USADA lost a bit of its credibility with the way they’ve handled Jones’ situation:

”When I saw different results, different substances and different penalties, man… To me, as a person, it lost credibility,” Machida said. “For me, not being part of USADA… You can’t understand the joy I have. Not having that daily stress… You could be doing everything by the book, but there was always this stress.

”What I’ve been hearing is that it takes a bit of their credibility away. Double standards. We can see that like every other (entity) it has flaws, too, flaws that we can’t say are intentional, if they are intended to protect (someone), or if it’s just flaws in the system, in the process, but it does have flaws.”

Since serving his suspension, Jones has reclaimed the light heavyweight throne and is gearing up for his second title defense. As for Machida, he now resides in Bellator, and will face Chael Sonnen from Madison Square Garden on July 14.

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Miesha Tate Compares TJ Dillashaw’s USADA Situation To Jon Jones’ Picograms

Miesha Tate sees some similarities between TJ Dillashaw and Jon Jones’ United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) cases. Dillashaw recently tested positive for an “adverse finding” in his drug test during the time of his fight against Henry Cejudo in January. Speaking to Sirius XM Fight Nation, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion gave her thoughts […]

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Miesha Tate sees some similarities between TJ Dillashaw and Jon Jones’ United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) cases.

Dillashaw recently tested positive for an “adverse finding” in his drug test during the time of his fight against Henry Cejudo in January. Speaking to Sirius XM Fight Nation, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion gave her thoughts on the situation.

She offered a comparison between Dillashaw and Jon Jones, who has also had issues with the anti-doping agency in the past (via BJPenn.com):

“There was a point when it wasn’t strictly enforced, and I do believe that probably the majority of people were using,” said Tate. “It’s possible that he did it at one point in his career before it was a big no-no. And now, it’s a no-no, and maybe he’s clean, but maybe something is popping up that maybe he used a long time ago that he never got caught for.

“If it happens with Jon Jones…yes, he got busted, and now it’s reoccurring, but I think we’re actually going to see more cases. As USADA is getting down to a picogram…what is that, like 50 millionth of a gram of salt or something ridiculous like that?

“If they’re that specific, if anybody’s used anything at one point in their career, then it’s possible that these picograms are still floating around.”

Tate also said that Dillashaw cutting down to 125 pounds might have played a factor in the positive test:

“So he dropped down to 125, I mean, he cut all of his body fat,” she said. “If anything was gonna pop up that was from a long time ago…”

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