Former UFC champ Lyoto Machida off Tampa card after banned substance disclosure
The Ultimate Fighting Championship card on Fox on Saturday in Tampa, Florida, has suffered another loss.
A scheduled light heavyweight bout between veterans Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida has been scratched after Machida declared usage of a banned substance to a sample collector last week during an out-of-competition drug test.
According to a statement released by the UFC on Wednesday, Machida told the collector from the United States Anti-Doping Agency he was unaware the substance was prohibited both in and out of competition.
“Given this information, UFC officials have elected to remove Machida from his scheduled bout against Dan Henderson this Saturday,” the statement read. “Henderson will be re-booked for a new bout in the near future.”
USADA is the independent administrator of the UFC’s anti-doping program.
Machida took to social media to say he had been using 7-Keto, a supplement that contains the banned substance DHEA.
“I’m here to tell you that I was caught by surprise by this news. It has been very difficult for me. I’ve trained a lot for this fight, I’ve dedicated a lot with all my teammates,” the former light heavyweight champion posted. “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, teammates, and my family.
“I always try to play by the book, but unfortunately this happened.”
A review of the 2012 list of banned substances reveals 7-Keto has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency list of prohibited anabolic agents since at least that time.
Machida’s disclosure will be taken into account as part of USADA’s adjudication process, per the organization’s policy.
Henderson referred to Machida as a “P.O.S.” on Twitter immediately after the announcement.
P.O.S. -No respect https://t.co/03O5oM7sM9
— Dan Henderson (@danhendo) April 13, 2016
The main event for UFC on Fox 19 changed last week as Tony Ferguson was forced to pull out of a bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov due to a lung issue. Nurmagomedov will instead face newcomer Darrell Horcher in a catchweight bout as part of the main card.
A light heavyweight bout between Glover Teixeira and former champ Rashad Evans will serve as the new main event. The featherweight bout between Cub Swanson and Hacran Dias has been promoted to the main card to replace the scrapped matchup between Henderson and Machida.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj
