Cody Garbrandt isn’t surprised that T.J. Dillashaw was popped for EPO as he claims his former teammate was using it for several years.
Dillashaw relinquished his UFC bantamweight gold when he was flagged by the New York State Athletic Commission. Things got worse for the former 135-pound champion as USADA revealed his EPO use. Dillashaw is serving a two-year suspension and won’t be eligible to return until Jan. 2021.
Garbrandt Weighs In On Dillashaw’s EPO Bust
Speaking to reporters backstage at UFC Sacramento, “No Love” discussed Dillashaw’s drug test failure (via MMAFighting.com):
“He stole a lot from me,” Garbrandt said. “I wasn’t surprised at all. I was surprised that’s the first time USADA’s ever tested for EPO. I stated back in – what was it 2017? – that I’d like to do more invasive testing. We have to log in everywhere we go. We have to answer the door at 6:00am, piss, urine, blood, everything, write down every supplement we have. There should be no boundaries or picos or this or that. You either cheat or you don’t.
“The first time he got tested for EPO was when he fought Henry? It’s crazy. What are they even testing for. We’re not in there shooting steroids and getting big, they’re doing EPO, they’re doing all that kind of sh*t to cardio base. I knew that. I knew T.J. was on that and that’s why I said I wanted more invasive testing. He’s been on it for five, six years. And that’s not the only thing he’s on. There’s a lot of other fighters that are on sh*t too, so if you’re gonna draw a line on what we can do or how we can test – you can’t keep this sample, we can’t detect EPO – then what are we getting tested for? Let it all be legal and let’s all get juiced up and go in there and f*ck each other up.”
Garbrandt has said he’s ready to return. He’s eyeing someone in the top five rankings in the UFC bantamweight division. Garbrandt is on a three-fight skid and hasn’t emerged victorious since Dec. 2016. Along the way, “No Love” has had to deal with injuries.
(video via MMAJunkie)
