Fabricio Werdum Claims He Denied USADA’s Offer To Snitch
Fabricio Werdum claims that his suspension by USADA could’ve been reduced had he done what former UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones did, which was basically snitching. However, the former UFC heavyweight champion decided not to do so.
Werdum had been flagged by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) back in May for a potential anti-doping violation. It was announced revealed last month that Werdum would be on the sidelines for two years due to him testing positive for anabolic steroid trenbolone and its metabolite epitrenbolone in an out-of-competition screening on April 25. He won’t be allowed to fight again until May 22, 2020.
Werdum’s last fight saw him suffer a knockout loss to Alexander Volkov in London, England and before that, he had won back-to-back fights over the likes of Walt Harris and Marcin Tybura.
Fabricio Werdum Claims
Werdum stated in a recent interview that USADA gave him an offer to snitch but he declined. It was what Jones did to reduce his suspension.
“What surprised me the most was at the end of the interview, it was something that I found absurd,” Werdum told Combate. “They said, ‘Werdum, here’s the thing: If you tell on someone …’ It was what you could call ‘delacao premiada’ (plea bargain). ‘Werdum, if you tell on someone’ – using the slang, if you’re a snitch – ‘we’ll shorten your suspension. Because you’re going to have to pay something. Even if we find the substance in any of the products we test, even if we find it, you’ll have to pay something.’
“For the guy to make me an offer like that, to snitch on someone, that goes against my principles. I can’t tell on someone. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t do it. How am I going to snitch on someone to make it better for me, to lower my suspension or whatever?”
Werdum Questions
The former heavyweight champ stated that he is not certain as to why his suspension is two years when you compare it to Jones who just got 15 months despite it being his second offense.
“I’m not going to name names, but I saw that recently a guy who was supposed to have caught four years ended up catching 15 months,” Werdum said. “And I caught 24 months. How come? If it was his second or third offense? Is it two weights and two measures? How does that work? It’s very strange, really. I want to keep fighting,” he said. “I’m training every day – of course, I’m not training with the same intensity of when I have a fight. … I’ve thought of fighting in a different country. I’m going to see what I’ll do now. It’s hard now – it’s all very recent. I still have to talk to the UFC. I’m still working on TV as a commentator (with the UFC’s Spanish-language broadcasts). There are many things happening and I need to take a moment to really think, because sometimes I’ll say something, and I’ll regret it later.
“I’ll have to see what I’ll do. I have two more fights in the UFC. How long will I have to wait? Will I have to wait out these two years? Will I be able to fight in another country? What will I do? I don’t know yet. I’m still indecisive. I still have a lot of thinking to do.”
