FORMER UFC LIGHT heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has apologised after admitting to taking a substance banned by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
The Brazilian (22-7), who was due to face Dan Henderson (31-14) in a middleweight rematch at this weekend’s UFC on Fox 19 in Florida, claims he took a supplement called 7-Keto, which contains DHEA — a substance listed as an anabolic agent.
In a statement released on his Facebook page, Machida insists he wasn’t aware of any wrongdoing. He adds that DHEA was only added to the banned list in 2016 but it has in fact been prohibited for several years.
I’m here to tell you that I was caught by surprise by this news,” Machida writes. “It has been very dificult for me. I’ve trained a lot for this fight, I’ve dedicated a lot with all my team mates. I want to tell you that I really didn’t know about this substance, so I listed it on my declaration form amongst everything else I was taking, and this substance was recently banned in 2016, so I take the blame for not knowing that, and I’d like to say I’m really sorry and apologise to my fans, team-mates, and my family… I always try to play by the book, but unfortunately this happened.”
Machida’s bout with Henderson has been cancelled and he looks set to receive a lengthy suspension.
Henderson tweeted:
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