Lyoto Machida: USADA Lost Credibility With Jon Jones Situation
Lyoto Machida believes that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) lost credibility after the Jon Jones situation.
Jones was hit with a 15-month suspension after having a second run-in with the doping agency in 2017. Machida has a history with USADA as well, receiving an 18-month ban after admitting to using banned substance 7-keto-DHEA. In an interview with MMA Fighting, Machida believes USADA lost a bit of its credibility with the way they’ve handled Jones’ situation:
”When I saw different results, different substances and different penalties, man… To me, as a person, it lost credibility,” Machida said. “For me, not being part of USADA… You can’t understand the joy I have. Not having that daily stress… You could be doing everything by the book, but there was always this stress.
”What I’ve been hearing is that it takes a bit of their credibility away. Double standards. We can see that like every other (entity) it has flaws, too, flaws that we can’t say are intentional, if they are intended to protect (someone), or if it’s just flaws in the system, in the process, but it does have flaws.”
Since serving his suspension, Jones has reclaimed the light heavyweight throne and is gearing up for his second title defense. As for Machida, he now resides in Bellator, and will face Chael Sonnen from Madison Square Garden on July 14.
