Apart from incurring injuries to his right foot and orbital bone, after losing his match against Nate Diaz at UFC 241, which took place in Anaheim, California, in the month of August 2019, Anthony Pettis also suffered an injury in the form of a cut to his thumb before the event.
In an interview with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani, Pettis revealed that the incident occurred only an hour before his match against Diaz, which was his comeback to the sport after a three-year break. "Showtime," told Helwani that he blamed the accident on a drug test that was conducted right before the match by USADA (the United States Anti Doping Agency).
Blames Drug Test Bottle For Gash On Thumb
This is what Pettis had to say, "USADA comes up and says, 'Hey we need to do a piss test for your drug test.' I did the first drug test, but it was too diluted because when you rehydrate there is like too much water in you. So they had me do a second drug test, but I had to wait until I could pee again. So it was like an hour and a half before the fight so I had to go again and I told the USADA guy to let's go get it done.
I did the test and I'm closing the first bottle up, it's like a twist cap. So I'm twisting the cap and I put it inside the plastic bag and I see blood. So I'm just like what the f***! So I look at my hand and I gashed my hand on the USADA drug test. So closing the glass top with something like a jagged edge or something, it gashed my hand. So I had to get glued up before my fight."
Pettis Reveals That USADA Protocol Wasn't Followed
Pettis then told Helwani, that he instantly reported the incident to UFC officials, after which he was approached by doctors who gave him two options - to either get stitches to stop the bleeding or get the gash glued up. "Showtime" apparently opted for the latter.
In the interview with Ariel Helwani, Pettis also said that he was going to sue USADA because the official who administered the drug test to him didn't follow protocol.
