Just a couple of days ago, the US anti-doping agency broke its long-running deal with the $12.1 billion worth, UFC. The collaboration which began back in 2015 will end on December 31, 2023. A section of the MMA community is targeting the return of superstar Conor McGregor as the cause of the fallout. Amidst all the noise, a former UFC title challenger, Paulo Costa, has taken a sly dig at ‘The Notorious’ on Twitter by accusing him of PED usage.
The first UFC double division champion Conor McGregor recovered from his horrific leg break injury quicker than expected. Moreover, the physical transformation he went through shocked the fans, giving birth to allegations of using banned substance.
Even the UFC commentator Joe Rogan weighed in on the subject. Now, the UFC middleweight star is sharing his opinion on the same.
Paulo Costa mocks Conor McGregor
Over the years, the Brazilian middleweight has amassed a notoriety for sharing memes and jokes on Twitter. Moreover, he also plays a gimmick of carrying around a secret juice box and drinking from it.
Now, his recent target is the former UFC lightweight champion. With his latest Tweet, Costa tried to mock the Irishman for his insane physical transformation by sharing a seemingly edited picture. He wrote:
“Looks dehydrated after Usada left . Paulo ‘s juice isn’t secret anymore“
Looks dehydrated after Usada left . 🧃🙏🙌 Paulo ‘s juice isn’t secret anymore pic.twitter.com/2U8c0Kq7Gt
— Paulo Costa ( Borrachinha ) (@BorrachinhaMMA) October 15, 2023
The first UFC double division champion is closing in on his octagon return. However, his comeback is surrounded by a lot of noise in the MMA community.
This was one of the points the US anti-doping agency used to explain why there were cracks in their collaboration with the UFC.
UFC-USADA fallout
On October 11th, USADA released a statement announcing that their deal with the UFC will not be renewed at the end of 2023. While doing so, they also announced that UFC’s superstar Conor McGregor had indeed made the comeback in the testing pool.
With their statement, the anti-doping agency hinted at UFC demanding for an exemption for the Irishman. As per the stipulation, ‘The Notorious’ would have to wait for six months after entering the pool and giving two tests.
According to the US agency, this proved to be a hiccup in their collaboration, eventually causing an impasse. However, as per his comments on the Pat Mcafee show, UFC president Dana White had a completely opposite stance on the matter.
White claimed that it was a ‘scumb*g move’ from USADA to release such a statement to the public. Additionally, even UFC CBO Hunter Campbell clarified and held a press conference on the matter.
During their press-conference, Campbell announced that UFC will soon strike a deal with Drug Free Sport International to act as a mediator. Thus, confirming that the PED testing program is still in place in the leading MMA promotion.
