Secret Juice Powers Paulo Costa to Top of USADA List as 8-Year UFC Association Comes to an End

Since 2015, Dana White and the UFC enlisted the services of USADA, a third party testing organisation to ensure that athletes fight clean at all times. Now that the partnership is ending, an unlikely name in Paulo Costa has topped the USADA list in this metric.

According to a tweet by Aaron Bronsteter, Paulo Costa topped the list as the most tested athlete by USADA. This was during its eight year stint with the UFC. In the tweet he said,

“With the UFC’s partnership with USADA ending in mere days, here are the most tested athletes (by sample amount shown) in the anti-doping program’s history (per USADA’s database)

Paulo Costa 135
Jon Jones 111
Kamaru Usman 97
TJ Dillashaw 92
Amanda Nunes90
Jiri Prochazka 89″

With the UFC’s partnership with USADA ending in mere days, here are the most tested athletes (by sample amount shown) in the anti-doping program’s history (per USADA’s database)

Paulo Costa 135
Jon Jones 111
Kamaru Usman 97
TJ Dillashaw 92
Amanda Nunes90
Jiri Prochazka 89

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) December 29, 2023

Costa is often under the microscope of the USADA as well as fans because of his physique. The former title challenger has arguably one of the most aesthetic physiques in the UFC.

‘Borrachinha’ further plays into these accusations by suggesting that his body is fueled by a ‘secret juice’. However, so far in his UFC career, Costa has been suspended once for six months. Thankfully for Costa and others on the list, they will not have to deal with the USADA 2024 onwards. USADA announced a few months earlier that their partnership with the UFC will end from 31 December 2023.

A closer look at what is next for the UFC after USADA

January marks the official end of a business partnership that started in 2015, as Drug Free Sport International will work with the UFC to manage its athlete anti-doping initiative. Following the CEO of USADA characterising the relationship between the two parties as “untenable”.

UFC executive vice president and chief business officer Hunter Campbell and senior vice president of athlete health and performance Jeff Novitsky announced the news of the move at a press conference. The new partnership is aimed at giving fighters more freedom in order to take care of their body. However, it will still ensure that the most stringent test are carried out to ensure that competition remains fair at all times.