Former UFC champ T.J. Dillashaw accepts 2-year doping ban

T.J.-Dillashaw

Former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. (Gregory Payan/AP)

LOS ANGELES — Former UFC champion T.J. Dillashaw has accepted a two-year suspension for doping.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which administers the UFC’s drug testing policy, announced the ban and Dillashaw’s decision Tuesday.

USADA says Dillashaw tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin, a synthetic hormone better known as EPO.

Dillashaw’s suspension ends Jan. 18, 2021, exactly two years after the positive sample was collected during his preparation to challenge Henry Cejudo for the flyweight title. Cejudo stopped Dillashaw in 32 seconds to keep his 125-pound belt.

The 33-year-old Dillashaw relinquished his 135-pound belt three weeks ago after announcing he had failed a doping test.

Dillashaw had two tenures as the UFC’s bantamweight champion. He reigned from 2014-16 and again from November 2017 until this year.

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