Paulo Costa has hit out at UFC drug testers by weighing in for his fight with "secret juice" after claiming they blood tested him in the early hours of the morning.
Costa, who fights Luke Rockhold at UFC 278 this Saturday, said United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) officials came to his hotel room at 6am on Friday to take his blood. As part of the UFC's anti-doping policy, fighters are subject to random drug tests 365 days a year.
Fighters have to update USADA of their whereabouts frequently so the agency can locate them for out-of-competition testing. Costa, who successfully made weight for his middleweight fight with Rockhold, is not the only fighter to recently vent their frustration at the anti-doping agency. Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman said USADA also recently turned up to his house at 5am ordering a drug test.
Costa voiced his frustration at the anti-doping agency after making weight for UFC 278, later tweeting: "F*** the boss [of] USADA who sent their agents this morning at my sleep room 6 am to take my blood out," he wrote. "I was cutting weight very dehydrated and they wants took my blood! F*** those guys!!! I never been caught by USADA test I don’t need this f*** s***."
Thanks to his muscular physique, Costa has been accused of taking performance-enhancing drugs by several of his previous opponents. The UFC star has never failed a drug test in the promotion and often makes light of the allegations by carrying out a bottle of "secret juice", the same drink he took to the scale on Friday morning.
Who wins at UFC 278 - Paulo Costa or Luke Rockhold? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
Rockhold, who makes his return at UFC 278 after a three-year layoff, recently discussed Costa's juice gimmick as he told The Schmo : "Secret juice, that’s always the recipe for a lot of these guys. They’re always trying to find that secret juice. You know, I just rely on hard work and a lot of water, focused effort, and we’re going to show him what kind of juice it takes."
Both Costa and Rockhold are without wins in over three years as the pair look to put themself back into title contention with a win on Saturday night. The winner of their fight could produce the next challenger for the middleweight title after current champion Israel Adesanya defends his belt against former kickboxing rival Alex Pereira at UFC 281 in November.
