UFC light-heavyweight Lyoto Machida has admitted to using a banned substance before a out of competition test, the UFC announced today.
The promotion released the following statement on the matter:
“The UFC organization was made aware today by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, that Lyoto Machida declared the usage of a banned substance during an out-of-competition sample collection last week,” the statement read. “Machida stated that he was unaware that the substance was prohibited both in and out of competition and, in accordance with the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, his disclosure of usage will be taken into consideration by USADA during any potential results management and adjudication process.”
With that, the UFC on Fox 19 fight against Dan Henderson has been scratched from the card.
Machida posted a video on his Facebook page where he gives his side what happened.
He says:
”I’m here to tell you that I was caught by surprise by this news. 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 apologize to my fans, team mates, and my family… I always try to play by the book, but unfortunately this happened.”
