Fabricio Werdum is no rat.
That’s the message the former UFC heavyweight champion passed along after receiving a two-year suspension from USADA after testing positive for trenbolone in an out of competition drug test administered back in April.
Werdum says during a meeting regarding his suspension, USADA offered to reduce his sentence if he was willing to give them information on anybody else who they could then pursue on doping charges.
A similar case was just brought up recently when former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones agreed to hand over information to USADA to receive a reduced sentence after his second violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy.
“What surprised me the most was at the end of the interview, it was something that I found absurd,” Werdum said when speaking to Combate in Brazil (translation by MMAJunkie). “They said, ‘Werdum, here’s the thing: If you tell on someone …’ It was what you could call ‘delacao premiada’ (plea bargain). ‘Werdum, if you tell on someone’ – using the slang, if you’re a snitch – ‘we’ll shorten your suspension. Because you’re going to have to pay something. Even if we find the substance in any of the products we test, even if we find it, you’ll have to pay something.’
“For the guy to make me an offer like that, to snitch on someone, that goes against my principles. I can’t tell on someone. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t do it. How am I going to snitch on someone to make it better for me, to lower my suspension or whatever?”
“For the guy to make me an offer like that, to snitch on someone, that goes against my principles” ~ Fabricio Werdum
Werdum ended up receiving a two-year suspension as a penalty for his violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy. He won’t be eligible to return until he’s 43 years old.
Despite that setback, Werdum says he wouldn’t change a thing because he’s not going to act as an informant for USADA just to lessen his own penalty.
While he never mentioned Jones by name, Werdum was clearly taking a shot at the former UFC champion after he took a similar deal, gave USADA information that could lead to a doping bust or even criminal charges and ultimately got a 15-month suspension as a result.
Jones could have been facing up to a four year suspension for a second violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy.
“I’m not going to name names, but I saw that recently a guy who was supposed to have caught four years ended up catching 15 months,” Werdum said referencing Jones. “And I caught 24 months. How come? If it was his second or third offense? Is it two weights and two measures? How does that work? It’s very strange, really.”
While the two year suspension will hurt, Werdum vows to continue fighting once he’s eligible to return in 2020.
“I want to keep fighting,” Werdum said. “I’m training every day — of course, I’m not training with the same intensity of when I have a fight. I’ve thought of fighting in a different country. I’m going to see what I’ll do now. It’s hard now — it’s all very recent. I still have to talk to the UFC.”
