Marcos Rogerio De Lima was notified of a potential USADA drug test violation in August of last year, which caused the fighter to be pulled from UFC Fight Night Rotterdam.
USADA would later find that the pharmacy that gave De Lima the tainted supplements had also done so to other Brazilian fighters as well. De Lima was cleared of any wrongdoing and was cleared to return to action immediately, but the fighter may still sue the supplement company that gave him the tainted supplement.
“The biggest problem is that I wasn’t fighting and making money. It was insane, man,” said De Lima to MMA Fighting. “I was in Florida and had to postpone my return to Brazil because of Hurricane Irma, and then my life was literally hit by a hurricane with that news. It was a difficult time. We’ll try a deal first, and if that doesn’t work… I think they will agree to a deal because we have too much evidence. We don’t want to sue them, but if they don’t want a deal we will have to go to court. We lost a lot, and also the damage it caused me emotionally and to my career.”
De Lima doesn’t have a fight announced at the moment and it is unknown when he will return to the Octagon.
When De Lima does make that return to the Octagon, it is going to be happening at heavyweight.
“When I’m off training I weigh 257 pounds and always made weight well, but couldn’t do it for a couple of times,” De Lima said. “Most of my training partners at ATT are heavyweight, so there’s no reason why I won’t fight in this division. I feel better at heavyweight. I’m fast and explosive, and I think I’ll do well.”
The other fights who were affected by the tainted supplements were former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.
