Outside of an unexpected injury, drug test failures are the bane of the entire sport of MMA. Nothing is quite as damaging to a fighter’s career and overall legacy than to fail a drug test. Ever since the UFC partnered with the United States Anti-Doping Agency to legitimize the sport, several of MMA’s brightest stars have been extinguished due to a failed test.
Over the past few years, USADA has torn through the UFC roster like a vigilante with a hit list. From causing Vitor Belfort to go from the Hulk back to Bruce Banner, to giving Jon Jones his biggest “L’s”, we look at the Top 5 Drug Test Failures in the UFC.
No. 5. Chael Sonnen
Before there was Conor McGregor, the “King of Trash Talk” in the UFC was Chael Sonnen. Sonnen’s time in the UFC’s spotlight was sporadic, as the main eventer would find his name linked to controversy quite often. Chael would resort on more than one occasion to banned substances to get the competitive edge over his opponents. Credit can be given to Chael that can’t be given to any other athlete on this list, Chael didn’t pawn his test failures off on tainted supplements. Sonnen took a road less traveled and has been open about his past mistakes, blaming only himself. While his mistakes might have cost him opportunities in the UFC, Chael has managed to find success in Bellator MMA. For now, the “Gangster of West Linn” is safe, unless USADA comes to Bellator looking for him.
No. 4. Vitor Belfort
Vitor joins Chael and a few others on this list as being a multiple time offender when it comes to failed drug tests. Belfort has stood by his claims on each one of his failings that he was competing within the rules or was unaware of a certain supplement being administered was a steroid. Belfort is the most meme worthy mention on this list due to his radical appearance change. Pre-USADA, Belfort looked as if he was trying to compete for the title of “Mr. Olympia”. Vitor would find himself ridiculed by practically everyone in the Middleweight division, due to his openness about using TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy).
Then USADA stepped in and let the air out of “The Phenom”. A short TRT-ban later, and Vitor barely even resembled the same fighter. Recently, Belfort has expressed interest in starting a fighting league for “legends”. We can assume that USADA wouldn’t be welcomed to oversee this league.
No. 3. Anderson “The Spider” Silva
One of the more shocking and disappointing entries on this list is the drug test failures of Anderson Silva. Once considered to be the greatest fighter in the world, Silva’s failed drug tests in 2015 and 2017 put the talk of “greatest ever” to an end. Before USADA, it seemed as if Silva was just a fighter ahead of his time. Kicking people in the face looked like it was something Silva was just born to do. That is until USADA exposed the former Middleweight champion as a steroid user. That’s all it took to take a once famed career and turn it into a mound of dust. No matter how great his performances were at the time, Anderson’s failures with USADA will eclipse the rest of his career.
No. 2. Brock Lesnar
After looking at Brock Lesnar, you would probably be shocked to find that out of all the people on this list, he has only tested positive for 1 fight in his entire UFC career. That fight would be the only fight he took with the UFC while under USADA. Pre-USADA Brock was a fighter that everyone in the world would pay to see. Even despite his losses to Mir (Dishonorable mention), Cain, and Overeem (Dishonorable mention), Lesnar would remain a huge draw for fans worldwide.
Being the size of a Gorilla, Lesnar is no stranger to the accusation of steroid use. For most of his career he managed to pass tests that would indicate the Brock is just genetically gifted. That was until USADA caught Lesnar trying to replicate the super soldier serum that turned Steve Rogers into Captain America. The irony of it all, during the lead up to Brock’s fight where he tested positive, Brock mocked the steroid accusations again. “I’m a white boy and I’m jacked, deal with it!”
Well, hindsight is always 20/20. With Brock’s USADA record 0-1, perhaps it’s best for the “Beast” to stick with the WWE. Surely, he gets a drug testing schedule as lite as his wrestling schedule there.
No. 1. Jon “Bones” Jones
Take everything said about Anderson Silva and his illustrious career and multiply it by 10. You would have something close to the incredible career that Jon Jones came close to having. Before his drug test failures and general fall from grace in the eyes of the fans, Jon Jones was the guy. He was the UFC’s “Ali”. With a technical prowess that went unmatched throughout his whole career, Jones was showcasing himself to be a true once in a lifetime athlete. Not only undefeated (we don’t count the DQ loss) in the Light Heavyweight division, Jones went through a real murder’s row of opponents. To come up with a better Rogue’s gallery, you’d probably have to turn to Batman or the Flash.
Jon Jones is a story of rags to riches to tragedy. Early in the Jones saga, Jones was received in the most baby faced way possible. Almost as if he was told to be on his best Public Relations behavior, Jones was always polite and respectful in just about every interview. That was until Daniel Cormier caused Jones to throw caution to the wind and be himself during their rivalry. Fans enjoyed this side of Jones as it felt more genuine than what we had seen from Jon before. Unfortunately for Jones, it didn’t stop there.
If Daniel Cormier pulled out the real personality behind the PR Jon Jones, then USADA would be the entity that revealed all the skeletons in Jones’ closet. In his multiple test failures, we have learned everything about Jones, from his cocaine use to his dabbling in PEDs. While Jones continues to deny his more recent steroid allegations and that his test failures are due to “tainted supplements”, it’s hard to have faith in him anymore. You could write a novel on all the mishaps that have surrounded Jones throughout his career, but at the end of the day he is the one to blame. Could Jones have been the best inside the octagon? Of course, but the only thing Jones does better than fight, is get in the way of his own success.
Perhaps the fighters on this list can still inspire others to do things the right way. The entire sport of MMA is incredible and amazing to watch, and to know that fighters go into the octagon with unfair advantages hurts that. The sport has overcome so much criticism to this day, that the last thing MMA needs is an over abundance of fighters cheating. One day in the future we could look back on the UFC/MMA as being the greatest test of strength, skill, and endurance in the world. The only way to get to that point is to do it the right way. While there are many ways to improve the sport, continuing the road to making sure every fighter fights clean is an important path to see through. Love them or hate them, USADA has helped navigate the sport towards the right path.