5 UFC fighters who were accused of PED use without any evidence

#2. Paulo Costa – former UFC middleweight title challenger

Paulo Costa's impressive physique has caused him to suffer accusations of steroid abuse despite no evidence

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”.

Paulo Costa fires back at doping accusations from surfing legend Kelly Slater (@guicruzzz) https://t.co/F0ZDMf8QiU pic.twitter.com/fIvv9qZ7fS

— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 18, 2018

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.

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#1. Georges St-Pierre – former UFC welterweight champion

Despite pushing for more stringent drug testing, Georges St-Pierre was often accused of steroid abuse

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.

GSP: I never took steroids in my life. I want Olympic testing. Against TRT, drugs etc.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 17, 2013

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.