Former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida released his own statement Wednesday hours after it was confirmed that he took a banned substance.
Machida was scheduled to face Dan Henderson this coming Saturday night at UFC on FOX 19, but the promotion scrapped the bout completely after the USADA informed them of the news.
On a message he posted online, Machida issued a statement, saying that “I always try to play by the book, but unfortunately this happened.”
Below is the complete statement courtesy Machida:
I’m here to tell you that I was caught by surprise by this news. It has been very dificult for me. I’ve trained a lot for this fight, I’ve dedicated a lot with all my team mates. I want to tell you that I really didn’t know about this substance, so I listed it on my declaration form amongst everything else I was taking, and this substance was recently banned in 2016, so I take the blame for not knowing that, and I’d like to say I’m really sorry and apologize to my fans, team mates, and my family… I always try to play by the book, but unfortunately this happened.