Over the years, several UFC veterans have voiced their concerns on the subject of drug testing. Some feel there are athletes who somehow get away with it, while others believe certain athletes have found a way around fooling the system. Recently, UFC welterweight Jorge ‘Gamebred‘ Masvidal made some contentious statements regarding the USADA testing program.
On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, former welterweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal guested for a really interesting chat. The duo spoke on all things MMA and more. During a particular segment of the podcast, Joe touched upon certain fighters and their accomplishments before the USADA program kicked in. The duo went on to speak about Vitor Belfort, Anderson Silva, and more.
However, at one point, Rogan insinuated he wished for fighters being able to use all kinds of banned substances. The 55-year-old said, “I kinda wish they let people do whatever the f**k they wanted to do. Well, these other organizations are very lax.” To which Jorge responded with, “USADA oversees Americans [more] than a lot of these other countries they can’t even get into.”
The UFC color commentator alleged that the drug testing officials are not bothered to make the hard travel to Dagestan for their testing duties. He said, “Oh yeah, they are not traveling to the mountains of Dagestan to get people to piss test.”
“So it’s like, man, make it fair for everybody. If I’m getting tested 20 times a year, so and so should also be getting tested 20 times a year,” added Masvidal.
Jorge Masvidal reveals why he is not happy with USADA testing in UFC
Drug testing has been an age-old subject in the world of MMA, and many athletes have been alleged to have found a way around it. Right from Vitor Belfort to the heavyweight champion Jon Jones, fans believe a plethora of active fighters on the roster is on the juice. We have one such alleged case with Islam Makhachev, whom Masvidal might be referring to in the above podcast segment.
In December 2022, UFC lightweight Bobby Green accused lightweight champion Islam Makhachev of abusing steroids. The 36-year-old claimed that Makhachev has been using steroids since the age of 10 and hasn’t stopped since. He believes Makhachev and other Dagestani athletes in the UFC were selectively bred for success through the early use of PEDs.
In an interview, Green shared, “Imagine if you gave someone steroids from the age of 10, 12, 13, 14, 15; how strong you would be… He was really strong. I told my coach, ‘There was something interesting about Islam. I felt it. It’s just not human’.”
It is worth mentioning that this isn’t the only incident a former opponent has made such allegations against the Russian. In February of this year, lightweight Dan Hooker publicly accused the 31-year-old of practicing the IV method during rehydration. Hooker made the allegations after Islam defeated Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284 in Australia.
The Dagestani champion finished both Dan Hooker and Bobby Green during the very first rounds of their respective contests. What do you make of Joe Rogan’s recent comments? Let us know your thoughts down below.
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