After Paulo Costa beat Uriah Hall at UFC 226 on July 7, president Dana White offered Hall high praise. “He fought an incredible fight tonight,” said White, as transcribed by Peter Carroll for MMA Fighting. “He was in his face, every time he got hit he would punch back with two or three punches. It was awesome.
And White offered the highest praise for Costa, saying he could headline a card in Brazil.
I think that kid is the next big Brazilian star,” said White. “He’s on his way; he’s good looking, an incredible physique, and fights like an animal.”
Some would say Costa’s physique is not just incredible, but impossible without performance enhancing drugs at some point. Legendary surfer Kelly Slater is one of those.
Didn’t Cung Le get caught because he looked suspect in a photo after a fight? wrote Slater on Instagram. Costa makes Yoel’s physique look almost attainable. If this guy ain’t juiced they shouldn’t bother testing at all.
Costa signed with the UFC early in 2017. UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance Jeff Novitzky has referenced a “smell test” as one trigger for increased testing. That is to say, if an athlete looks more muscular than Yoel Romero, they may be in for extra tests. Costa has been tested 19 times, and never failed.
In a conversation with Guilherme Cruz for MMA Fighting, Costa responded to Slater’s remarks.
Kelly Slater talked too much, said stupid things, said Costa. He doesn’t understand how the anti-doping system works in the UFC, he doesn’t know how USADA works, doesn’t understand the USADA policy of testing any fighter at any moment anywhere in the world, blood and urine.
We do random tests all the time, so if someone says a UFC fighter is fighting on the juice, to me that someone is completely ignorant about MMA, UFC, anti-doping and USADA.
It does bother me because people talk without knowing. They judge me because I have a good physique, an excellent condition, and think I got this by cheating instead of hard work, diet, effort, and sacrifice. I keep working really hard, so it bothers me because they diminish my work and effort. But I know where my results come from, so my conscience is clear.
Costa hopes next for a fight vs. Chris Weidman at UFC 230 on November 3, in Madison Square Garden.
