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[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 26, 2019, 1:12 PM]
Headline: Tyron Woodley Reveals How He Lost $10,000 Waiting On A Random USADA Drug Test
Author: Damon Martin
UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley has always been proud to compete as a clean athlete, which is why he fully supports the random drug testing done by USADA.
As the enforcers of the UFC’s anti-doping policy, USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) is in charge of randomly testing fighters at any time, place or occasion without much notice before making an appearance to draw blood or urine.
Woodley has always tested clean throughout his career while remaining one of the most tested athletes on the UFC roster. He was even given an award for a consecutive streak of clean tests under the UFC’s anti-doping policy.
Unfortunately, Woodley found out just how random the testing can be earlier this year when he received a call to submit a sample while he was traveling to Atlanta to take part in the Super Bowl festivities ahead of the game between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams.
“They tested me Super Bowl weekend, the lady came to me, bless her soul, cause I said a few unchoice words to her with respect. She came to test me at 12 a.m. on Super Bowl weekend knowing the reason I was in Atlanta was probably for Super Bowl and I had some appearances that I was supposed to be at,” Woodley revealed during a media luncheon ahead of UFC 235.
“I had an event with Devonte Freeman and Meek Mill I was supposed to be at. An event with Ludacris and Snoop Dogg and I was in the hotel waiting on her to come in 45-minutes of traffic to test me. So she tested me around 1 a.m. and I missed those events.”
According to Woodley, he asked the person sent to collect his sample if there was any way this could be done in the morning so he wouldn’t miss his appearances but that was not allowed.
Woodley then revealed that the tester told him she couldn’t make it to collect his sample earlier because she had an event of her own that couldn’t be missed.
“I said I have an event I have to go to that I’m missing money because I’m supposed to be there,” Woodley said. “She said ‘well I can meet you there’, I said ‘no, you can’t get in, you can’t be on the list’.
“So I had to wait there and she tested me at 1 a.m. and I was not happy.”
Because the person collecting his sample was stuck in traffic for 45 minutes, Woodley had to wait in his hotel for over an hour until she arrived to test him.
Woodley ultimately missed his events that night and according to the reigning welterweight champion it cost him a hefty paycheck.
“[I lost] about $10,000,” Woodley revealed. “So USADA I’m not happy right now.”