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PEDs have been a problem in the UFC for many years now, with numerous fighters, including reigning UFC champions, testing positive for banned substances and being suspended from action.
While many UFC stars have tested positive for PEDs, plenty of others have never tested positive – but have still been victim to baseless accusations of drug use.
While online UFC fans are frequently guilty of these accusations, it’s often fellow UFC fighters who end up slinging the mud at their rivals in order to provoke them.
With this considered, here are five UFC fighters who were accused of using PEDs without any evidence to back it up.
#5. Kamaru Usman – current UFC welterweight champion
Current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman is arguably the most dominant fighter on the planet right now. He’s defeated the likes of Tyron Woodley, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns. He has put together one of the longest win streaks in UFC history with 14 victories in a row.
However, Usman’s incredible grappling game and freakish strength have meant that his fellow UFC fighters – usually his most bitter rivals – have often accused him of using a variety of PEDs, from anabolic steroids to EPO.
‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has never tested positive, nor has there ever been any evidence to link him to drug use during his MMA career.
Usman has been tested on 51 occasions by USADA, suggesting that if he were using any illicit substances, he’d have been caught by this point.
Still, that hasn’t stopped him from being accused of PED abuse. Conor McGregor, for instance, labeled Usman a “juice head” in a recent Twitter rant, despite not fighting in the same division as ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ on a regular basis.
But it’s Usman’s rival Colby Covington – who was knocked out by the Nigerian at UFC 245 in 2019 – who has been the biggest accuser.
Covington has claimed that Usman has been “doing steroids his whole career,” and has also labeled him the 'CEO of EPO' on numerous occasions.
The two welterweight rivals are set to fight again in the near future. So despite Usman’s apparent innocence, it’s likely we’ll hear many more accusations in the coming months.
#4. Israel Adesanya – current UFC middleweight champion
Current UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya certainly doesn’t look like the kind of fighter who abuses anabolic steroids. His physique, while definitely ripped and athletic, isn’t muscle-bound like some of his rivals.
However, that hasn’t stopped him from being accused of using PEDs by a number of UFC fans, primarily after his win over Paulo Costa at UFC 253.
The reason for the accusation was Adesanya’s seemingly swollen right pectoral muscle during the fight. Many observers saw it as a definite sign of steroid abuse.
As many people are aware, gynecomastia – or the enlargement of breast tissue in males – is a red flag when it comes to potential use of anabolic steroids.
However, Adesanya was quick to deny the accusations, stating that he didn’t need the “crutch” that steroids would provide. He also added that he was undergoing tests to attempt to find out the cause of his swollen pectoral.
So what’s the truth here? The likelihood is that Adesanya certainly isn’t using anabolic steroids, particularly as he’d been tested by USADA on 32 occasions before the fight with Costa.
However, until a genuine explanation for his swollen pectoral is found, it’s likely he’ll suffer more accusations in the future.
#3. Johny Hendricks – former UFC welterweight champion
Another fighter who never failed any drug tests during his UFC career, but was often accused of PED abuse, was former UFC welterweight champion Johny Hendricks.
A former NCAA Division I champion wrestler, Hendricks came into the UFC in 2009. He put together a fantastic run that took him all the way to the UFC welterweight title in 2014. Along the way he defeated the likes of Carlos Condit, Jon Fitch and Martin Kampmann.
But ‘Bigg Rigg’ was seen as a suspicious fighter by many of his peers. This was partly because he reportedly refused to undergo more stringent drug testing prior to his title fight with Georges St-Pierre at UFC 167.
When USADA began to test the UFC’s fighters in 2015, Hendricks was one of the most notable stars to suffer a major drop in form. So much so that he lost five of his last seven UFC fights before his 2017 retirement.
‘Bigg Rigg’ claimed that USADA’s testing did cause his career to slide downwards – but only because they banned the use of IVs for rehydrating after a heavy weight cut.
However, despite never testing positive, Hendricks was outright accused of using steroids by former foe Matt Brown in a 2018 interview. ‘The Immortal’ stated that he was probably the UFC’s “most obvious” steroid abuser.
#2. Paulo Costa – former UFC middleweight title challenger
It’s hardly a surprise that former UFC middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa has been accused of PED use during his career. After all, ‘The Eraser’ is heavily muscled, even for a UFC fighter. Essentially, the Brazilian looks like a pumped-up cartoon character.
However, Costa has never tested positive for a banned substance during his UFC career, despite being tested by USADA on 66 occasions.
Admittedly, the Brazilian did accept a suspension from USADA in 2017, but only for the use of a banned IV to help with rehydration following a particularly tricky weight cut.
But that hasn’t stopped numerous fans – as well as a couple of his fellow UFC fighters – from accusing him of steroid abuse over the years.
Most notably, current UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya – who beat Costa at UFC 253 in 2020 – labeled him as “juiced to the gills” in an interview.
Bizarrely, surfer Kelly Slater also accused ‘The Eraser’ of being on steroids, stating that “if this guy ain’t juiced, they shouldn’t bother testing at all”.
Quite why Slater felt the need to throw his opinion into the hat is unknown, but Costa quickly refuted the claims, labeling the surfer “ignorant”. Until the Brazilian tests positive, it’s hard to disagree with him.
#1. Georges St-Pierre – former UFC welterweight champion
Perhaps no other fighter in UFC history was as supportive of more stringent drug testing than former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
Widely recognized as the greatest fighter not just in UFC history, but in MMA history period, St-Pierre went unbeaten over twelve fights between 2008 and 2013. In that time, he defended the UFC welterweight title on nine occasions.
‘Rush’ never tested positive for a banned substance during his UFC career. Prior to the last few fights of his run as UFC welterweight champion, he took part in the more stringent VADA testing program. He footed the bill for it himself and encouraged his opponents to do the same.
In fact, it was the refusal of one of his opponents – Johny Hendricks – to undergo the same level of testing that apparently triggered GSP to step away from the UFC for four years in late 2013.
However, despite all the evidence to the contrary, St-Pierre was often accused of drug use by his rivals. This was largely because of his impressive physique and incredible physical strength.
Most notably, GSP’s rival Nick Diaz stated that the Canadian was on steroids on numerous occasions. Diaz claimed that he should’ve tested positive following their fight at UFC 158.
And Michael Bisping – who St-Pierre defeated for the UFC middleweight title in 2017 – also suggested the same thing. He claimed he’d “heard stories” that GSP was a dirty fighter, although he did refute those claims in a later interview.
In this case, it seems more likely that GSP’s opponents were trying to get under his skin than the Canadian actually being guilty of using PEDs.
