Former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos seemingly has a single fear when it comes to fighting for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). However, it’s nobody on the roster.
Junior dos Santos was flagged for a failed drug test by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for the diuretic Hydrochlorothiazide. Consequently, dos Santos has been on the sidelines for nearly a year.
USADA would go on to reduce dos Santos’ suspension to a simple reprimand after discovering that the fighter’s failed drug test was due to contaminated supplements that were tracked back to a single Brazilian company.
Speaking to MMA Fighting, dos Santos offered his thoughts on the matter.
“In my mind, they would quickly see that I had no fault and would clear me to fight again pretty quickly, especially because of how much of the diuretic they found, not even a performance-enhancing drug, and it being hydrochlorothiazide, a cheap and inefficient diuretic,” he said. “If I wanted to hide something, I would have taken something way worse.”
“I have a fight now, and every time [USADA] comes, I try to show them everything I’m taking. I show everything, because I’m kind of afraid. I don’t know. It happened once when I did nothing. God forbid it happens again, so I get scared. That bothers me a lot.”
“I actually tried to stop using supplements, but it’s absurd. It’s impossible. We need this. If you say an athlete doesn’t need supplementation, that he can get everything through food, you’re wrong. I don’t know about other sports, but our sport is extremely hard, it’s extremely tough. You can’t train twice a day, tough training sessions that are devastating for your body. … Especially for a guy like me, a heavyweight, because it takes longer for your body to recover. It takes longer for your body to absorb all the [punishment]. It’s not simple. You can’t just not use supplements.”
