Tim Means wasn’t idle during UFC suspension: ‘I went and got another job’

UFC welterweight Tim Means may be 11 fights and a few years into his UFC career, but that doesn’t mean he could just sit back and be idle while the process played out. Means was coming off a win over John Howard back in December, when he got flagged for an out of competition drug test by USADA back in February.

The drug test failure resulted in the cancellation of a planned bout against Donald Cerrone at UFC Pittsburgh, an event which eventually became “Cowboy vs. Cowboy”. Since then Means and USADA have revealed that the drug test failure was the result of a tainted supplement, but in the interim time, Means told MMA Fighting that he had to go out and get a new job:

“I went and got another job,” Means told MMA Fighting. “I couldn’t be in fight mode then. I was aggravated and didn’t need to have my mindset in a fist fight, so I went and started learning how to do metal fabricating. I went from something where I was team captain in my trade to the lower end of the totem pole, to the bottom. It was a very humbling experience. I went from something I was good at, that I loved to do, to something I didn’t know anything about and really didn’t have interest in…

“The suspension that they offered, I put the worst-case scenario in my head. I have two daughters that are permanently living with me now, so there was no time to sit and wait and let stress build up. I had to keep my mind busy.”

In fact, Means says that the failed test was so demoralizing that he almost walked away from the sport completely.

“I wasn’t really interested in MMA [after I was flagged with the potential violation],” Means said. “I was mad. I was mad at it. I threw my whole life into mixed martial arts, and I had to step back and let USADA do its tests. [UFC Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance] Jeff Novitsky helped me, and we brought [attorney] Howard Jacobs in, so I let them do what they do, and I just tried to step back and stay sane and realize how much I do love mixed martial arts.”

Fortunately for fans, it does seem like Means was able to rekindle his love for the sport, and with his 6-month suspension coming to an end in the next few weeks, it shouldn’t be long before fans get to see him back in the cage again.