Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida has accepted an 18-month sanction for an anti-doping policy violation after declaring the use of a prohibited substance and subsequently testing positive of the substance. The suspension is retroactive to April 2016.
Machida, 38, was pulled from a matchup with Dan Henderson at UFC on Fox 19 this past April due to the infraction.
7-keto-DHEA was the prohibited substance taken by Machida. The former champion noted he had taken the substance on his sample collection paperwork. The substance is in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy. The drug is marketed as a dietary supplement with the implication that it may accelerate weight loss, increase metabolism and prevent age-related changes. A WADA-accredited lab reported to USADA that Machida’s sample demonstrated an elevated level of the prohibited substance.
Due to his immediate admission of the use, USADA saw it as a mitigating circumstance in reducing the standard 2 year suspension to 18 months.
Payout Perspective:
At 38, Machida’s suspension likely means his career with the UFC is over. He was coming off of two straight losses with his last fight in June 2015, a KO loss to Yoel Romero.
He’s done, and thats what doping is all about, cheating nature….at your own health risk i might add