Marlon Vera believes some UFC fighters are still cheating and getting away with it: “Are USADA testing people in a f*****g third world country?”
Despite the UFC roster being put through regular drug testing from USADA, Marlon Vera still believes there are fighters cheating and getting away with it.
Vera took to the Believe You Me podcast with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith to claim that several fighters in the UFC were still taking steroids and cheating the system to gain an unfair advantage. Despite USADA testing fighters routinely, Bisping and Smith both agreed the issue still exists.
The conversation began with the trio discussing the legitimacy of fighters retiring and leaving the USADA testing pool. To then use steroids to speed up their recovery process and, once fully healed, remove any wrongdoing from their system, only to return to the octagon at a later date.
Watch Marlon Vera discuss PEDs with Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith
Here’s Vera’s thoughts on the matter:
“It’s crazy, the moment you retire you’re out of the pool. I’m like, at least test the guy for a year. Or anybody, right? But who knows? I really believe [that] even if USADA randomly tests you, they can only test you from six [AM] to six [PM]. If you have money and a decent doctor [you can definitely get away with cheating]. I believe that people are still cheating until this day.”
Light heavyweight contender and Believe You Me co-host Smith joined the conversation and agreed with the Ecuadorian. Vera responded by revealing some information he had heard about some drugs:
“I heard [that] there are drugs [that] you can take, and literally overnight, it kind of, like disappears [from your system]. And, like, you can go for a vacation, [you can do many things to cheat]. Like, USADA is effective but are USADA testing people in a f*****g third world country? Or [are they testing people] deep down in f*****g Russia, I don’t know. I live in f*****g California, they come to my house all the time. I would rather die than cheat, so. That’s just me, right?”
Quotes via Sportskeeda
Bisping was quick to respond, stating it wasn’t just Vera that would “rather die than cheat”, but himself, Smith, and countless others are on the same page as him in regards to using performance-enhancing drugs to acquire an edge over your opponent.
