UFC Fighters Who Weren’t The Same After USADA
Over the years, MMA has seen many changes in rules that made it one of the safest sports out there. We feel fine going even further saying MMA wouldn’t be what it is today if it wasn’t for these changes.
One of the biggest changes, however, was the UFC alliance with the USADA anti-doping agency that began in 2015. Before USADA, we could often hear pros talking about how at least 50% of the fighters were using roids. In fact, many believe the real number is close to 90%.
In the next years, the USADA scientist went on a hunt to expose fighters for cheating, clean the sport and make it fair. We saw many elite MMA fighters testing positive for various substances and the careers of many fighters taking an instant dive.
In this article, we are bringing you a list of fighters who never got caught for using steroids, but their careers have fallen apart after the USADA arrival.
Alistair Overeem
Overeem is the king of body transformations when it comes to MMA. People tend to forget he once fought in the 185-pound division during his days in PRIDE. He then went from a small 185-pound fighter to the superhero looking 260+ pounds monster in just two years.
Giving to the Overeem himself, he got that big by only eating a lot of horse meat and lifting weights. Well….Let’s leave this up to you to decide whether it’s true or not.
Yet, we have to say that Overeem has been consistent inside the cage. In the post USADA era, he hasn’t gone on a bad losing streak and it seems like his fighting abilities are the same as well. In fact, he even went on to fight for the UFC heavyweight title in 2016 (lost to Stipe Miocic).
Though his fighting skills remained the same, his physique has changed a lot since the USADA came in. Before 2015, Overeem was a 260lbs monster with 0% body fat. After it, he got a little chubby.
Anthony Pettis
Pettis is the former UFC champ who, at one point, was a real MMA superstar. In his prime, he was an ideal MMA package with the potential to become the best ever. However, his career took a steep dive and many people think he hasn’t been the same fighter after USADA came in.
Pettis stormed through the UFC by scoring great finishes and putting on a show in every fight he stepped in. He won the UFC title by beating Benson Henderson and many people thought he would rule the 155lbs division for many years. But his decline began shortly after his first title defense in 2015, which happens to be the year the USADA came in.
Pettis lost the title in his next fight against RDA and went on a three-fight losing streak. He simply wasn’t the same fighter anymore since his speed, timing, and cardio were way off. He went from being the most talented UFC athlete to the average gatekeeper in less than two years.
To his credit, Pettis never got caught by USADA for doing anything illegal.
Vitor Belfort
I guess we are all familiar with the “TRT Vitor” term and what it means. Vitor was the one to allegedly use testosterone (TRT) and he, in fact, didn’t hide from it. He used it as a therapy to deal with the health issues, and just “slightly” boost his physique and fighting skills.
In reality, however, Vitor got a superhuman physique while using the TRT. In this time span, he went on the hunt for all 185lbs fighters and to score many great finishes. Some of them were violent like the ones against Bisping and Rockhold. But it all came to an end when he tested positive.
With the NSAC abandoning the TRT, Vitor Belfort became just an average human. He wasn’t competitive at all and his body turned into the body of a 40-year-old man who lifts weights a few days a week. And let’s not forget that Vitor has quite a history with testing positive for steroids.
Big Foot Silva
Like Vitor, Silva also allegedly used stuff that would later come to be forbidden by the USADA. So, it’s not a surprise that his career took a dive as well and it was sad to watch Silva going down like that.
You see, Silva is the former Strikeforce champion who also fought in the UFC. In his prime, Silva was a force to be reckoned with. The best moments of his career were the KO wins over Travis Browne and Alistair Overeem. The win over Overeem, in fact, secured him a shot at the UFC gold.
But, Silva failed to capture the UFC title by losing to Cain Valasquez at UFC 160. After USADA came in just two years later, Silva went on an awful losing run. I mean, the USADA policies struck him so bad that he went on to lose six out of his seven fights. Not to mention five of these losses were violent KOs.
Eric Silva
Silva came into the UFC promotion as a promising young fighter (12–0) with a bright future in front. He quickly made a name for himself by scoring a KO in his debut at UFC 134 and people saw him as the Brazilian’s next big thing. I mean, the guy was very talented, good looking and had a ton of hype behind. We were all riding that train.
But in the following years, Silva would have a hard time climbing the rankings. His UFC career was a mix of great wins and some unfortunate losses. His best UFC win came when he defeated the former UFC champ Josh Koscheck in 2015. However, USADA came in around that time and Silva simply wasn’t the same after the Koscheck fight.
We have to mention that Silva never got caught for using steroids. But it all points out in that direction as he went 1–4 in his next five fights before he got fired from the UFC.
Johny Hendricks
Johny is the former Interim UFC champ and perhaps the hardest puncher in the 170-pound division history. I mean, the man used to put people to sleep with a single touch of the wrist. On top of that, he had an elite wrestling background he actually never used that much.
He joined the UFC in 2010 and rose to the top by scoring KO after KO over the elite rivals. After failing to unify his interim title against GSP in 2014, Johny came back to win the vacant 170lbs title by beating Robbie Lawler. His troubles started when he lost the title in the rematch with Lawler, which happens to be the moment in which USADA came in.
From 2015, Johny went on a three-fight losing streak. To his credit, all of his rivals were the best of the best at the time. But he simply wasn’t the same fighter as his power and explosion have gone out of the window. I mean, Johny literally change to worse overnight. To make matters worse, he also started having trouble making 170lbs weight and he missed the scale on many occasions.
He desperately tried to save his career by moving to the 185-pound division but this proved just as bad. He left the UFC in 2017 while being on a two-fight losing streak.
Renan Barao
Renan Barao is the former UFC champ who once was on the 32 fight winning streak. And he had all the skills needed to become one of the greatest MMA fighters in history.
Yet, his amazing streak has come to an end when he lost the UFC title to T.J Dillashaw at UFC 173. Barao quickly bounced back with the win, but, just to lose a rematch against Dillashaw once again.
The thing is, Barao never recovered from this loss and many think his career fell apart because of the USADA arrival. I mean, it was weird seeing him going on a five-fight losing streak after pulling one of the greatest winning streaks in history. Poor Barao ended up fighting on the UFC prelims against unknown rivals.
Like Eric Silva, Barao too never got popped up for using steroids. But the man has become synonymous with the fighters who weren’t the same after USADA. I mean, what’s the other reason for his fall? It seems impossible that a fighter so good could go down like that.
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