Former UFC light heavyweight champion and one-time middleweight title contender Lyoto Machida has been suspended 18 months by the USADA for use of a banned substance.
Earlier this year, Machida admitted taking the substance prior to a fight in April with Dan Henderson. He was subsequently removed from that contest and eventually failed an out-of-competition drug test.
The suspension, first reported by FOXSports.com, is retroactive to April and will allow “The Dragon” to compete once more in October 2017.
“During an out-of-competition test conducted on April 8, 2016, Machida, 38, declared the use of a product containing 7‐keto-dehydroepiandrosterone (7‐keto‐DHEA) on his sample collection paperwork. 7‐keto‐DHEA is a prohibited substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the WADA Prohibited List,” USADA officials wrote in the release. “Machida’s sample was analyzed at a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory and reported to USADA for an elevated 7β-hydroxy-DHEA to DHEA ratio, which is consistent with his declared use of a prohibited substance.”
