USADA representative calls Lyoto negligent in doping case

Lyoto is suspended until October 2017. (Photo: Getty Images)

After Lyoto Machida demonstrating his dissatisfaction with the 18-month punishment received by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), a representative of the agency countered the Brazilian and stated that the fault for the suspension lies with the fighter himself, who did not take the necessary precautions to avoid breaking the rules imposed.

“The entire situation could have been avoided if Mr. Machida had used the resources available to him to see if the product was permitted under the UFC's anti-doping policy. It would have been very easy, all he had to do was visit GlobalDRO.com – a source where all athletes educate themselves – and search for 7-keto. He could have also spoken to us directly. Either way, within minutes, he could have determined that his product was not safe to use under the Program,” said Ryan Madden, spokesperson for Usada, in an interview with the website “MMA Fighting” (USA).

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Despite complaining about the suspension, Lyoto and his team did not appeal, thus accepting the punishment of one and a half years. According to Madden, the attitude taken by the Brazilian was to avoid further details about the doping case.

“I think it's entirely possible that, given Mr. Machida's degree of negligence - which, in all honesty, is extremely high - his team decided to accept the 18-month punishment rather than risk getting a full two-year hook. imposed by an arbitrator. Furthermore, as people who are familiar with this can attest, when you go to trial, all of the details surrounding the athlete's use of the banned substance are exposed to the public in the referee's decision, which is something your advisors will guide you through. you to take into consideration. Sometimes, I suppose, it's easier for the athlete – at least from a public relations perspective – to accept the sanction and then try to control the narrative with the media. It’s unfortunate, for sure, but that’s what we’ve seen in this case,” he declared.

Initially, the punishment for athletes caught doping is two years. In Machida's case, the six-month sentence reduction was due to the Brazilian having committed to using a prohibited substance. “Mr. Machida took a product that had a prohibited substance listed in the ingredients and the name itself is that of a substance that is on the prohibited list. And let's be very clear here, the athlete in this case did not use any of the resources close to him – resources that we have warned him about countless times – to determine the status of the product before ingesting it. Because of this, we determined that the athlete's degree of culpability was high. However, because Mr. Machida was willing to cooperate and facilitate the investigation, we believe that a six-month sentence reduction was appropriate,” he concluded.

Lyoto Machida, 38 years old, is a former UFC light heavyweight champion, a title won by knocking out Rashad evans at UFC 98, in 2009. He even challenged for the middleweight belt against the then champion Chris Weidman, at UFC 175, in 2013, but was defeated in a unanimous decision by the judges. In total, Machida has 14 wins and seven losses in Ultimate, with three setbacks in his last four fights.

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