Kevin Lee found himself sliding down a slippery slope, even before he was hit with a USADA suspension.
Lee revealed that he was being sanctioned by USADA, earning a 6-month suspension for his prescribed Adderall, used to his ADHD. He said that the main reason for this suspension was due to his failure to secure a therapeutic use exemption, despite doctor’s orders.
After news broke of his suspension, Lee was seen flushing the remainder of his pills, saying that he was quitting cold turkey, as well as giving up alcohol. Speaking on The MMA Hour, the Motown Phenom explained that this was something he was planning on quitting before he got the USADA suspension, saying that he could feel himself becoming addicted.
“Yeah, there was a part of that (feeling like they I was getting addicted). I’ve got an addictive personality anyway, so when I realized like ‘Oh, this shit actually works,’ that can get dangerous.”
As far as the suspension itself goes, Kevin Lee says that he understands that he messed up, but that Adderall was not a performance enhancing drug, at least not to him. He denied the idea that he was taking this as a way to focus on his fights.
“It definitely helps you in life but I don’t necessarily know if it ever helped me get bigger, faster, stronger, or even focus more during the fight. I think that’s one of the things you can even see during this fight (with Daniel Rodriguez). I kind of lost focus in the second round, and I wish I could’ve been on (Adderall), you know. I probably should’ve just smoked weed or something, then it probably would’ve been a whole lot better,” Lee said.
While this was obviously a less than ideal situation to be in, the good news is that the six month suspension that Kevin Lee is facing is retroactive to his fight with Daniel Rodriguez, meaning he will be able to return in March. He says that he plans to use that time to bulk up for his run at welterweight, so it will be exciting to see how he looks in his return.
Check out the full interview with Kevin Lee below:
