Dhiego Lima has some kind of feeling on Jesse Taylor recent failed drug test.
Jesse Taylor (31-15 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned the “The Ultimate Fighter 25” crown against Dhiego Lima (12-6 MMA, 1-4 UFC) in a second-round submission at the show’s finale on July 7, 2017. Unfortunately, he was flagged by USADA after estrogen blocker clomiphene was caught in test conducted on Aug. 22
Taylor was expected to take part in UFC fight night 121, was pulled off and got a one-year suspension from USADA.
It could be a straightforward steroid, Lima said, it would be one thing. But my instinct on this is pretty clear that he has been using PEDS in the leadup to their fight.
“For our fight, he knew our anti-doping would only be a normal pee test,” Lima told MMAjunkie. “So he must have done a cycle for that. And then, one month later, he flunked with a post-cycle drug. Of course, he was taking stuff to fight me. It was a relief for me, to be honest.
“That was on my mind – ‘Why was that guy so much stronger than me?’” Lima said. “I trained so hard, and the guy tossed me around like I was nothing? How? It’s not possible. I knew how strong he was in the house. So for me, it would be the same at the fight.
“I did what I had to do to win, but come fight time, he was like three times stronger than me. I got depressed, you know. I thought about the fight so much, and I couldn’t understand. I knew it. I told everyone after the fight that he was too strong that there was no way that was possible. And there you go.”
Well if you know, clomiphene is the same substance that causes trouble to former champions Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar in their respective UFC 200 bouts. As per USADA it indirectly secretes testosterone, which increases muscle mass and strength.
Dhiego Lima feels that failed drug test meant some vindication. He was skeptic about his own strength and felt how he was thrown around like a kid, that didn’t make any sense, I worked so hard, now I got peace of mind and felt better.
“I knew I’d done everything right. It all clicked. It wasn’t just any fight,” Lima said. “It was a finale. There was $250,000 (it actually ended up amounting to $290,000) on the line. I have three kids. I trained very hard for this fight. I suffered so much. Some days, I couldn’t even walk because I was training so hard. I knew about his strength. I knew about his wrestling. I prepared for everything. I trained with him for six weeks. He was on my team.
“I knew what I had to do to win the fight. I did everything right. I passed my post-fight tests. And then I hear the guy flunked a test a month later, knowing he did a cycle for my fight? This hurts me a lot. I suffered so much for this fight, and the guy cheats to beat me? It pisses me off.”
“USADA is trying to clean up the sport, so they need to see that he took a post-cycle drug,” Lima said. “Who doesn’t see that? It’s common sense. They need to take care of me. And I believe they will. They have to give me his contract. We’ll see. He’s suspended, so he won’t even fight. I’m here. I passed my tests. I’m training hard. I’ll fight anyone.”
“The fighters are all on my side – especially the clean ones,” Lima said. “They know where I’m coming from. Brian Stann, who I used to train with, always told me: ‘Dhiego, when you fight someone who’s on PEDs, you will know.’ And that’s what happened in this fight.
“I have the fighters on my side. I’m taking to social media. Dana White likes me. So I think there is a chance of at least getting a better contract, especially now that they’re trying to clean the sport with USADA.”
He is pretty sure that to get his demands met is an obstacle. However, Lima seems quite clear that opponent Jesse Taylor had been doing PEDS for a while, but in return, Jesse maintained that he has never done steroids.
Lima is confident that, to get some support from his colleagues and a proper social media campaign, he will be able to get the UFC on board.
“I’m no one to judge anyone,” Lima said. “But it’s common sense. The guy is 35 and has a back full of pimples. Where have you seen that before? Is he just hitting puberty now?”
“There is a different in strength, of course, but this also helps them mentally,” Lima said. “We do a camp, we train very hard, and sometimes our body can’t keep up. Sometimes you’re all hurt and broken, so you’re not always training at 100 percent. They say it helps with everything. Their training sessions will always be good, because they have that.
“These guys don’t wanna go through the suffering, they want the easier way. The thing that helps with performance and recovery. And these guys need to be banned. For a guy like me, who’s never taken anything, who diets every day, who trains hard, who goes through all the hardships, it’s so unfair to us. It’s ridiculous. These guys need to be banned. They need to go away. It makes me angry.”
Lima was pretty upset with this whole situation but said this would allow him to start fresh. He is planning to return to the octagon in December.
“His story was amazing,” Lima said. “What he did the first time, what he did to return. But if he can sleep at night knowing that he had to cheat to beat me? That’s his problem. I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night knowing I had to cheat to get something like this.
“He fought well and all, but I knew what I had to do. If he can sleep at night, that’s good for him. But I wouldn’t be able to.”
