Lyoto Machida vs. Dan Henderson Cancelled After Failed Drug Test

Former UFC light-heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida was set to face Dan Henderson at this weekend’s UFC on FOX 19 event. It was to be a rematch of their 2013 light-heavyweight bout which Machida won by split decision at UFC 157.

The fight left a lot of questions unanswered, and the two were ready to do it again this Saturday April 16, but now a massive spanner has been thrown in the works. The news comes by way of the UFC official website.

The UFC organization was made aware today by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency  (USADA), the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, that Lyoto Machida declared the usage of a banned substance during an out-of-competition sample collection last week. Machida stated that he was unaware that the substance was prohibited both in and out of competition and, in accordance with the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, his disclosure of usage will be taken into consideration by USADA during any potential results management and adjudication process.

Given this information, UFC officials have elected to remove Machida from his scheduled bout against Dan Henderson this Saturday in Tampa, Fla. Henderson will be re-booked for a new bout in the near future.

So Lyoto Machida will now be removed from the UFC Tampa card, making it just that little bit worse. After Tony Ferguson dropped out of his main event fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Glover Teixeira vs. Rashad Evans was made the main event.

So what will happen to Machida? Well ‘The Dragon’ could well face a minimum two year ban depending on what it is he’s been popped for, but considering how hard he cuts to make 185 pounds, it’s probably fair to assume it’s some sort of water dropping diuretic.