Lyoto Machida has made a statement following his removal from Saturday’s UFC on Fox 19 event, and revealed that the substance he disclosed taking was 7-keto-DHEA.
Available in over the counter supplements, the substance was nevertheless on the WADA banned list used by USADA, and a quick search of the product would have revealed that. For his part, Machida apologized and said he had not been aware the substance was placed on the banned list.
“I’m here to tell you that I was caught by surprise by this news,” Machida wrote on Facebook. “It has been very difficult 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.”
Dan Henderson, Machida’s scheduled opponent for Saturday’s card in Tampa, Fla., was none too pleased with the news on Wednesday, tweeting out the following:
P.O.S. -No respect https://t.co/03O5oM7sM9
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) April 13, 2016
Penick’s Analysis: This particular substance was not just added in 2016, as athletes have been suspended for it under the WADA code in past years, so this is a complete failure on Machida’s part to check his supplements. That part is at least believable, because he himself disclosed what he was taking not realizing it wasn’t allowed, and if he’d been trying to skirt a test and hope for a clean result he likely would have tried to hide it. Let this be a lesson to all fighters taking any supplements: just because it’s available over the counter doesn’t mean it can be used in sport. Check the WADA and USADA sites for the banned list, hit ctrl+f and search for anything in your substances. If it’s on there, don’t take it. Simple.
[Photo (c) Joe Camporeale via USA Today Sports]
Attention iPhone/iPad and Android users, if you’ve enjoyed our app in the past and followed us there, or if you’ve never checked it out, make sure to update to the latest version in the Apple store and/or Google Play store. We’ve launched a new look for the app, in line with our recent desktop overhaul. Make sure to check it out!
For current App users, swipe right to view next article, swipe left to view previous article.
Leave a Reply