The Nevada Athletic Commission has suspended UFC veteran Hector Lombard for a year after he tested positive for steroids in his UFC 182 bout with Josh Burkman.
While Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz were able to delay their NAC hearings, the same wasn't the case for Hector Lombard. The UFC welterweight contender failed his post-fight drug test at UFC 182 in January, having tested positive for the designer steroid desoxymethyltestosterone, or "DMT" for short. In today's Nevada Athletic Commission meeting, Lombard's punishment was handed down to him. The 37-year-old has been banned for a year, his win over Josh Burkman is a no contest, and he forfeits all of his win money plus 33% of his $53,000 show money. He also must pass a drug test before returning.
During the hearing, Lombard admitted to his steroid use but denied knowingly using it, and also said weight cutting problems caused by a bout with the flu is what started the whole thing.
Lombard: "I am completely embarrassed and sorry for my actions. This will never happen again."
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 23, 2015
Lombard says his UFC 182 weight cut to 170 "was a bit harder" because he had the flu.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 23, 2015
Lombard took Azithromycin (known commonly as Z-Pak) after the weigh-ins, which contained the banned substance in question and caused the drug test failure.
Lombard says he twice took a Z-pak close to fight night to help get over the flu. Thinks that's where his testing failure came from.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 23, 2015
Lombard: "If I would've known they were illegal, I wouldn't have taken them. It was stupid on my behalf. ... I messed up."
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 23, 2015
Lombard says a friend of his gave him the medication before he came to Las Vegas. He took one of the pills after weigh-ins.
— Shaheen Al-Shatti (@shaunalshatti) March 23, 2015
For the record, the friend of Lombard's is Canadian weightlifter and Olympian Julie Malenfant Northrup. Even though Lombard's team asked for leniency given his age and "fighting window", NAC commissioner Pat Lundvall didn't believe his story and the hammer was dropped.
Lombard was scheduled to face Rory MacDonald at UFC 186 before he was pulled from the card for, as it was revealed later that day, his failed drug test. This suspension is retroactive to the date of UFC 182 (January 3rd) so his suspension will end on January 3rd, 2016.
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