Former UFC champion speaks candidly on EPO controversy: "I fu**ed up"
A former UFC champion recently opened up and spoke candidly about his EPO controversy, which resulted in him being stripped of his title and handed a one-year suspension. He noted that there were ramifications to his career and believes it even tarnished his legacy in the sport.
Former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw is regarded as one of the greatest 135-pounders to compete in MMA, but was at the center of controversy when he tested positive for EPO, which is a banned substance. At the time, he moved down to 125-pounds to challenge then-flyweight champion Henry Cejudo in hopes of achieving double-champ status. There were plenty of concerns as he looked noticeably affected by the weight cut and ended up losing to Cejudo via first-round TKO.
During his appearance on The Casuals MMA, the former UFC bantamweight champion opened up about his EPO controversy and the reason he took the banned substance. Dillashaw mentioned that his body wasn't responding to the strenuous weight-cut and noted that his legacy was affected by the failed test.
"I definitely did [feel it tarnished my legacy]...Red blood cells is what takes oxygen to your muscles and so I had like, none anymore, just depleted...No matter what, I fu**ed up and I admitted that on my social media and almost I'm glad I did it but almost made it worse, right?...You got guys that do it, no one says sh*t, right? But I'm just fu**ing labelled that because I came out and was honest about it, so it's unfortunate." [55:33]
Check out the full episode with T.J. Dillashaw below:
Former UFC champion T.J. Dillashaw dismisses being on PEDs during his career
In addition to opening about his EPO controversy, former UFC champion T.J. Dillashaw dismissed the speculation that he was on PEDs throughout his career.
During the aforementioned appearance, Dillashaw disclosed that after he failed his test for his bout against Henry Cejudo, USADA went back and retested all his past tests dating back to 2016:
"When I failed that drug test, [USADA] went all the way back to 2016 and re-tested all of my samples again. Not only did they already test them, but then they take you under a microscope and retest them all again. And [I] passed every test, right? But everyone's saying discredit this, discredit that. Not only did I already pass those drug tests but I passed them a second time." [57:30]
Check out former UFC champion T.J. Dillashaw's statement after testing positive for EPO below: