Ahead of UFC 298 Paulo Costa Reflects on Life Post-USADA Exit: “Thank God for This”

The noted UFC middleweight, Paulo Costa, may have been a bit enraged by a fan’s comments on ‘X’. However, another recent update revealed that the 32-year-old had breathed a sigh of relief regarding another issue. Most fans may already know that the ending months of 2023 also came with a feud involving the UFC and the USADA. It also concluded with the UFC opting out of USADA’s services from the beginning of 2024. This is why ‘Borrachinha’ feels a lot more relaxed now.

Several UFC athletes have voiced their opinions against the USADA’s overtly strict policies and untimely nature of showing up before athletes. About a year ago, Conor McGregor’s scheduled rival, Michael Chandler, also revealed how the USADA can show up anywhere asking for their samples. Costa recently appeared on ‘The MMA Hour‘ podcast and answered a question from the host, Ariel Helwani, which revealed how the UFC-USADA split has relaxed him a lot. He said:

“It’s pretty nice. Coz till now, nobody came. Thank God for this. Otherwise, I should have 2 or 3 times visit here, since Christmas”

Well, there may be several fighters who also have various complaints about the USADA’s operation. But Costa was undoubtedly among the ones who were the most affected by the organization’s norms. So much so, that he once took a brutal dig at them from the platform of his official weigh-ins.

Paulo Costa flipped off the USADA from the stage of UFC 278 official weigh-ins

‘The Eraser’ was scheduled to fight the noted former UFC middleweight champ, Luke Rockhold, at UFC 278. Most fans may know that the last few days before a fight are grueling for almost every fighter due to the weight-cut process. While Costa was going through the same for his UFC 278 fight, USADA officials visited his residence and asked for his samples at around 7:00 am one day. This had ‘Borrachinha’ taking a brutal dig at the USADA from the UFC 278 official weigh-in stage.

But with the USADA gone now, he might have the freedom to put his time into training. His fans desperately want to see him make a superb comeback in his next scheduled fight at UFC 289 against the former UFC middleweight champ, Robert Whittaker. But most of them would agree that getting the better of his Australian rival will not be a straightforward task.