Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw was handed a two-year suspension by United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) earlier today (Tues., April 9, 2019) stemming from a failed drug test earlier this year.
After weeks of investigation, it was revealed that “Viper” popped for positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) prior to his knockout loss to Flyweight champion Henry Cejudo at UFC on ESPN+1 in Brooklyn, N.Y., on Jan. 19, 2019.
Cody Garbrandt, though, called it almost one year ago to date, as Aaron Bronsteter dug up an old tweet from “No Love” from April 18, 2018, where Garbrandt slammed his former teammate for too much EPO use.
Cody Garbrandt posted this on Twitter in April of 2018, specifically accusing Dillashaw of using EPO. pic.twitter.com/fiBXf3Z45z
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) April 9, 2019
“No shit! I’m talking about the March fight and then you said you were hurt, must be all that EPO going to your head! Have a safe camp, see you in Aug!,” Garbrandt wrote prior to their rematch at UFC 227 last year.
Furthermore, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto revealed that USADA tested more than one sample, and it also came back positive for EPO. Naturally, the additional finding didn’t come as a surprise to “No Love,” who took to social media to once again criticize his former training partner.
Test all his samples I bet for a fact more epo pops up, @TJDillashaw is a coward. Tj call me when that suspension is up! Scum bag https://t.co/LIjynev9VT
— Cody Garbrandt (@Cody_Nolove) April 9, 2019
So much for just a blemish.
It’s not the first time Garbrandt has accused Dillashaw of doping, as the ex-champion claimed Dillashaw showed the entire Team Alpha Male camp of how to effectively use performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
The news of Dillashaw’s drug test failures hit Garbrandt especially hard, as “No Love” suffered back-to-back knockout losses to “Viper.” Furthermore, Garbrandt was quick to remind fight fans that all three of his losses have come at the hands of combatants who have failed drug tests.
Indeed, Pedro Munhoz — who knocked out Garbrandt at UFC 235 earlier this year — was flagged for elevated levels of testosterone back in 2014. That said, “No Love” admits he fought like a “dumb ass.”
As a result of his infraction, Dillashaw surrendered his 135-pound strap and didn’t dispute the two-year sentence, which will make him eligible to return to action in Jan. 2021. In his absence, a new champion will be crowned as the aforementioned Cejudo and Marlon Moraes will collide for the vacant strap at the upcoming UFC 238 pay-per-view (PPV) event in Chicago, Ill., on June 8, 2019.
As for Dillashaw, his legacy of becoming the greatest fighter of all time will take a big blow — it will be a while before he can step back into the cage to get back in the win column. Not to mention the hit his image will take from all the backlash.
As of this post, neither Dillashaw nor his camp have yet to comment on the recent news of his suspension.