Seeing a fighter suspended for banned substances is almost unheard of these days in the UFC.
Not long ago, Jeff Novitzky stepped in to address a situation where a fighter claimed he had been given peptides by the UFC ahead of his bout at UFC 324.
According to Novitzky, who serves as the promotion’s senior vice president of athlete health and performance, it was just a mix-up.
Earlier this year, one fighter was hit with a massive 30-month suspension, which was extended after the athlete tried to “deceive” Combat Sports Anti-Doping.
These two instances, however, are overshadowed by one of the most famous cases in UFC history, which ultimately led to a champion being stripped of his title.
Aljamain Sterling relished punching TJ Dillashaw in their odd title fight
In 2019, Henry Cejudo stopped TJ Dillashaw during his attempt to become a two-division champion by moving down to flyweight.
Just two months after that loss, he announced that he would be vacating his bantamweight belt due to adverse findings in his drug tests from the fight.
Dillashaw served a two-year suspension before returning to the Octagon and defeating Cory Sandhagen via split decision, which earned him another title shot at 135 pounds.
He later admitted that he was ‘delusionally optimistic’ not to withdraw from the UFC 280 title fight against Aljamain Sterling due to a shoulder injury.
Sterling spoke about the unusual circumstances around that fight during an appearance on Home of Fight, saying it stands out as one of his favourite moments, aside from winning the championship itself.
“Best moment? Probably punching TJ Dillashaw,” he said.
“Because I just know he’s a cheat. He’s a lying cheat. ‘Oh no, I only got caught that time.’ Yeah, you only got caught that time. Your teammate outed you when you fought him.”
TJ Dillashaw accused of cheating by Cody Garbrandt before their fight
After TJ Dillashaw admitted to using banned substances in 2019, he mentioned that USADA had retested his previous samples and confirmed the violation was limited to his bout with Cejudo.
However, as Sterling noted, one of Dillashaw’s former opponents had already spoken publicly about cheating allegations prior to that admission.
Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt faced off in a heated grudge match at UFC 217, where Garbrandt was defending his bantamweight title against his former teammate.
When asked during fight week about accusations against Dillashaw, Garbrandt did not hold back, replying: “The guy’s on everything… Buddy, you’re the one that showed everyone how to do it on Team Alpha Male.”
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