Gleison Tibau admits his two-year suspension was rough.
Back in Nov. 2015, Tibau initially earned a submission win over Abel Trujillo. The win was overturned to a disqualification loss as Tibau tested positive for erythropoietin. Tibau was then suspended for two years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
Tibau recently told MMAFighting.com that the two-year suspension wasn’t easy to endure:
“After two long years, I’m just waiting for my next fight. The UFC guaranteed me I’ll fight in December, so I’m just waiting. It was the worst two years of my life. Imagine yourself going to the gym every day knowing that you can’t fight for two years.”
He went more in-depth on the problems his suspension caused.
“I didn’t sleep well several times. Money became a problem. Fighters only make money when they are competing, but bills won’t stop coming. Months and months without fights, that disturbed me. That really disturbed me. I thought about doing something else, following a different path. A lot of things crossed my mind. Not making any money for two years was bad, but I also worried about being outdated when I came back to the sport. Training with the best at the gym changed my mind in that aspect, but finances were a big issue because fighters only make money when they fight.”
