Good morning! Paulo Costa blasts USADA for waking him up at 5AM for the third time in two weeks

Paulo Costa is once again speaking out against USADA and their occasionally excessive drug testing practices.

The last time Costa got into a spat with USADA, it was over the organization’s decision to test him the morning of the UFC 278 weigh-ins. Costa was set to fight Luke Rockhold that weekend, and USADA showed up to his hotel room at 6AM to try and take blood as he was in the final stretch of making weight. While UFC president Dana White declared afterward that USADA would never do something like that again, they’re still making early morning house calls on ‘Borrachinha.’

“Good morning with F*** usada in my home,” Costa posted to Twitter. “Still f*** dark outside. 5 am for third time in 15 days. What lovely day.”

https://twitter.com/BorrachinhaMMA/status/1588147699446034433

The tweet included a picture of a tired looking Paulo Costa sitting on the couch drinking water so he can pee. USADA’s entire drug testing kit is laid out on his ottoman, alongside his infamous bottle of ‘Secret Juice.’ The Brazilian fighter has been joking about the big bottles of mystery concoctions he drinks during training for over a year. It turned it into a meme during 2022, and he used it to troll MMA fans who accused him of being on steroids. Has all that joking resulted in this extra attention from USADA? They certainly seem to be giving him a lot of love lately.

It’s actually been a slightly quiet year for Costa and USADA. According to USADA’s athlete test history database, Paulo has only been tested 12 times in the first three quarters of the year. In 2021 the organization tested him 23 times. So maybe they’re just trying to catch up by testing him three times in two weeks, at five AM in the morning.

Paulo Costa isn’t the only one getting drug tested excessively by USADA right now. A recent analysis of the USADA database revealed that UFC light heavyweight champion Jiri Prochazka was tested over 20 times in one month, and 51 times in 2022 so far. Obviously, a random drug testing program needs to work hard when trying to catch a cheat. But at what point does USADA’s behavior towards certain fighters cross the line into harassment?

What do you think of USADA’s recent track record towards certain UFC athletes, PENN Nation? Are they just doing their job, or are they letting bias play too big of a part in deciding who gets tested, and how much? Let us know in the comments!