UFC Flyweight champion Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson stops his Twitch stream of Bloodborne so the United States Anti-Doping Agency can carry out drug tests.
Ultimate Fighting Championship combatants have become one of the surprising gaming demographics, with a number of high profile fighters even taking to Twitch to stream gaming sessions. Amongst those involved in streaming are Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and current UFC Flyweight champion Demetrious ‘Mighty Mouse’ Johnson. During one of Johnson’s recent streams, however, the fighter had a somewhat dramatic interruption.
Whilst Johnson was busy streaming a playthrough of Bloodborne, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) entered his home and demanded that he be tested for substance abuse. Amazingly, this entire situation was caught on Twitch. What’s more, the chat itself was busy talking about the strict anti-doping stance of the USADA, and speculating on whether Mighty Mouse would be on the receiving end of a random test any time soon.
The UFC is struggling with allegations of widespread doping at the moment, and has taken strong measures to try and clear the sport of any substance use. Whilst previously fighters would only need to worry about being tested on fight nights themselves, now participants can end up being tested at any time, no matter how inconvenient. Whilst many fighters have ended up being pulled out of bed by the USADA, this is the first time that a UFC fighter has been taken away from a gaming live stream in order to take a test. Those interested can check out the video below.
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The doping problem within UFC has become a major issue, but it’s far from the only professional sport to be on the receiving end of a clampdown of late. In fact, professional gaming has also seen stricter rules on drug usage during tournaments, after a number of highly controversial cases where teams were using performance-enhancing drugs. This led to the Pro Gaming League resorting to stricter testing measures at tournaments, with many other pro gaming bodies expected to follow its lead in future.
Mighty Mouse is by far the only UFC fighter who is a fan of video games. Ronda Rousey, perhaps the most well known UFC fighter in mainstream culture, has long been known to be a fan of gaming, naming Pokemon, Mortal Kombat, and World of Warcraft as some of the games she plays. Meanwhile, the aforementioned ‘Rampage’ Jackson has developed a strong following on Twitch through his entertaining streams.
At the moment, it’s up in the air as to whether these new measures will help clean up doping within UFC. However, such high-profile random tests as this one are sure to raise awareness within the community that the USADA can strike at any time, no matter how inconvenient. Given how much concentration is needed to play Bloodborne, some might say that the test came at one of the worst possible moments.
Source: Kotaku