The United States Anti-Doping Agency is not playing around, according to Elias Theodorou,
USADA became the official drug test administrator for UFC in 2015. At the time, The Ultimate Fighter winner Theodorou was 3-0 in the UFC, climbing his way up the ranks. The fighters are required to notify USADA of where they are staying and are subject to drug testing around the clock. Theodorou shared a story on Fightful's mixed-martial-arts podcast about one of his first encounters with USADA. As is turns out, he wasn't the only one climbing.
"It was a confusion because I basically had my Canadian (house) and my New York rental on the list. So they went to my Canadian house and they were like 'hey, we went there and you weren't there' and I say "I'm sorry I'm here, I put it in but I must not have deleted the old one." They are like 'okay, we'll give you this one' because it was the first thirty days of the drug testing. They say 'its not a problem, we'll figure out another time, we won't give you a strike this time.' Flash forward another week later, I'm in New York, this is an AirBnB that I am renting. The door at the bottom was locked. You have to unlock the first door to walk up to the apartment that I am renting. So I am pretty sure, at five o'clock, the gentlemen climbed through the fire escape," said Theodorou,
He would also say that he always welcomed the random drug tests. When he was tested in New York, he invited the agent inside and took the test in the early hours of the morning. Theodorou noted after he took the test he realized he was wearing a "free Nick Diaz" t-shirt. Nick Diaz was serving a suspension at the time and has had problems with USADA.
Every weekday and after each UFC show, Fightful broadcasts a mixed-martial-arts podcast with Showdown Joe and his various co-hosts.
