“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Brock Lesnar of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 28, 2016”, UFC said in a statement.
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Lesnar, 39, competed in UFC 200 on July 9, beating Australian-based New Zealander Mark Hunt by unanimous decision in his first appearance in the octagon since December, 2011.
Lesnar was subjected to random in and out-of-competition drug testing once he returned to the UFC, and USADA tested the former heavyweight champion at least five times over a two-week period once he became eligible for the program. The 38-year-old South Dakota native earned a record $2.5m purse for the three-round points win, with all three judges handing down scores of 29-28.
Following a day full of headlines on Brock Lesnar’s possible USADA doping violation, Lesnar himself has now issued a brief statement on the matter.
“We will get to the bottom of this”, Lesnar told The Associated Press in an exclusive statement on Friday.
He was scheduled to return to the WWE and wrestle Randy Orton on August 21 at SummerSlam. USADA spokesperson Ryan Madden has also confirmed that Lesnar passed everything except for that one test just a few days apart.
Hunt told MMA Fighting: “The cheaters get a slap on the wrist and walk off. What penalty or deterrent is there to make them think twice?” His return drew controversy when the UFC waived its rule that states retired fighters must inform USADA four months out of their return fight so they can be placed into the drug-testing pool.
Hunt also questioned whether Lesnar was clean, asserting that his opponent was “juiced to the gills”.
Lesnar hasn’t yet revealed what banned substance was flagged from his sample.
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Interim light heavyweight champion Jon Jones was pulled from the main event of UFC 200 three days before his bout when he also received notice of a potential anti-doping violation. According to Yahoo Sports, there may have been an illegal/banned substance present in his test results that led to the announcement.
