Count Jeremy Stephens as one of the fighters on the UFC roster who was overjoyed when USADA became the promotion's drug testing partner.

Stephens, who first appeared in the UFC back in 2007, has seen the evolution of the sport with fighters who tried to cheat the system by taking performance-enhancing drugs. Stephens has also seen the way things have changed so dramatically since USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) arrived in 2015.

The 31-year-old featherweight has always been proud to be a clean athlete, but now Stephens truly believes fighters are competing on an even playing field with the random testing. And he credits the year-round drug screening program and its penalties, which can sometimes knock a competitor out of action for two years or more, as a major catalyst for the change.

"There's a lot of cheating p*ssies in this sport and they're getting exposed," Stephens told FloCombat. "Look at their performances. Look at how things have changed since USADA came in. I love USADA. We keep real 100 percent natural, and if you're not in here to be a natural man and go in there and chase your natural dreams and do it the right way, then you're a b*tch. To me, I don't give any credit."

As much as it pains him, Stephens admits stringent drug testing has even outed some of the fighters he held up as heroes in the sport.

At the top of that list is former middleweight champion Anderson Silva.

"The Spider" is widely considered as arguably the greatest fighter of all time. However, he failed a drug test back in 2015 that cost him a year of his career, and he was just recently flagged again for another potential doping violation ahead of his last scheduled bout against Kelvin Gastelum.

"People say, 'Oh, Anderson Silva,' no he cheated. He's out. I'll never look at that guy the same," Stephens said. "I used to look up to that guy. Now the fact that he's cheated and I know he's a known cheat, I totally discredit that. I can't agree with somebody who cheats when there are people on the sidelines who busted their asses and done it naturally and get paid less to do what they love to do while these cheaters took over the sport. It's not that I dislike Anderson. I'm a fan of his fight style, but the fact that you just cheated, it discredits everything that you did. All that sh*t was a lie basically.

"I love the fact that real fighters are doing it the right way. They're natural and there's guys that are getting paid way less but they're doing it the right way. They're doing it naturally. Some of those guys are starting to shine now. F*ck steroids. F*ck anybody who takes steroids. They're all a bunch of b*tches."

As much as it ruined Stephens' ability to root for certain fighters he used to hold in such high regard, the end result is worth it in his opinion. Stephens believes everybody is starting to actually face the best possible opponent without somebody being chemically enhanced. 

"What doesn't suck is now that USADA and the 'Golden Snitch' (Jeff Novitsky) like he put on the Joe Rogan show, he's busting these guys and I love it," Stephens said. "He's keeping it 100 percent real. It deserves to be all real and 100 percent natural."

By Damon Martin