Morning Report | Former UFC stars share nightmare drug-testing stories: ‘I wanted to kill them’

Chris Weidman, Jorge Masvidal, and Dustin Poirier have opened up about their frustrations with USADA's anti-doping protocol during their UFC careers, sharing war stories from their time under the testing agency's watchful eye.

From 2015 to 2023, USADA administered the UFC's drug-testing program, which required fighters to submit to random tests and maintain real-time location updates via an app. Testers were required to reach athletes within one hour of contact, leading to some surreal encounters that the three veterans discussed on their Deep Waters podcast.

Weidman recalled being pulled off the golf course mid-round, forced to produce urine and blood samples while his playing partners waited. He also described a near-disaster at UFC 205 in New York—a career-defining homecoming—when USADA agents showed up while he was hiding a recent knee surgery and IV treatment. He narrowly avoided a violation by quickly concealing evidence of the IV before opening the door. Another time, Weidman was issued a warning after traveling to his mountain house and failing to update his location within the required window, forcing an emergency flight home.

Masvidal shared a lighter but equally absurd story: after an intense training session and sauna, he couldn't produce a sample for hours. USADA agents followed him across Miami—to meals, to various locations—waiting for nature to take its course. Poirier topped them all, recounting the day testers called while he was signing papers at a truck dealership, forcing him to provide samples right there in front of sales staff. He was also tested at 6 a.m. on Super Bowl Sunday, drawing his ire.

Masvidal summed up the collective sentiment bluntly: on another early-morning Super Bowl Sunday test, he said, "I wanted to kill them." While the UFC has since ended its relationship with USADA, these three champions agree the testing regime, however necessary for clean sport, created some of the most awkward and frustrating moments of their careers.