Former UFC Champion TJ Dillashaw Suspended Two Years for EPO Use
Former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw was suspended two years by the United States Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) ahead of a flyweight title fight against Henry Cejudo on Jan. 19, the agency announced Tuesday.
Dillashaw did not contest his suspension. According to ESPN's Brett Okamoto, the two-year ban is the maximum sanction for a non-specified substance under the UFC's anti-doping program.
"We all know the pressures to win at all levels of all sport are real and intense," said USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart in a statement. "It is exactly why strong anti-doping efforts are necessary to protect clean athletes' rights, health and safety and to ensure that those who do succumb to these pressures and decide to break the rules will be held accountable in a real and meaningful way, as in this case."
Dillashaw is the second UFC fighter to test positive for EPO since 2015, when the UFC and USADA first partnered. (Gleison Tibau, a lightweight fighter, was the first.) EPO is a peptide hormone that stimulates red blood cell production.
