Lyoto Machida Says Fabricio Werdum’s Suspension Is Very Sad

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Lyoto Machida called the recent suspension of Fabricio Werdum by the USADA ‘very sad.’ Here are highlights:

On believing Werdum could be innocent: “How is the guy going to take something and spend this time doing this math? Like, ‘Now I’m going to stop. This doesn’t exist. If he was doing anything – the test before the one that was positive was also negative. That shows a lot of elements of innocence.”

On the test not making sense: “I’m not saying that his urine wasn’t (positive) – that’s not it. That, the test said. Great. But the causes – why did this happen? Who is Werdum? What is the athlete’s past? What has this guy done? So all of this needs to be seen with a much broader vision, other than simply ‘he was caught in that test, let’s suspend him for two years.’ That’s the way I see it.”

On being glad to be in Bellator and away from USADA: “I really like the UFC, and I really liked being there. But this USADA thing, for every athlete in the UFC, you’re tense. You might not be taking anything and you’re tense. (You ask yourself), ‘Did I take an aspirin for a headache, did I take contaminated water, ibuprofen, whey protein?’ It’s something that impacts you a lot, (and) you develop a trauma. Like, ‘Did I do something wrong?’”