Donald Cerrone Expects A Different RDA With USADA Testing

Rafael dos Anjos scored a one-sided decision victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in 2013, and he’s now gearing up to defend his newly minted lightweight title for the very first time against “Cowboy” himself in the main event of this Saturday (December 19, 2015) night’s UFC on FOX 17.

Since their first meeting, Cerrone has gone on an absolute tear, rattling off eight-straight victories including five impressive finishes.

Due to his recent successes, many are expecting a batter performance from “Cowboy” in the rematch, but Cerrone is also expecting to see a different version of the Brazilian champion.

With the use of performance enhancing drugs becoming a growing problem in mixed martial arts (MMA), the UFC recently partnered with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in attempts to clean up the sport.

Under the new guidelines, fighters have been subjected to stricter testing as well as stricter punishments.

Speaking on the changes as well as the upcoming fight with MMAFighting, Cerrone said that he expects dos Anjos to have a “different” strength with the new testing in affect, possibly accusing the Brazilian of cheating in the past:

“His strength, oh, it’s going to be a different strength. We have USADA testing now, so it’s going to be all different. It’s a whole new animal. You see it a lot. Not dropping any names, but you’ve seen a lot of guys: ‘oh, wow, you look different… and your cardio is different. And you can’t walk through those punches like you used to. I like it, I’m 100-percent for it. Test me everyday if you have to.””

This isn’t the first time that RDA has been accused, but he has appeared to have passed all of his tests to date.

That being said, do you buy into what Cerrone is saying, and who do you see coming out on top in the rematch?