USADA officially suspends Tibau 2 years

The United States Anti Doping Agency announced Thursday that UFC lightweight Gleison Tibau had been suspended for two years for testing positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in both pre and post-fight tests. His win over Abel Trujillo at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson 3 on Nov. 7, 2015 will be overturned, with Trujillo declared the winner, and Tibau the loser.

The regulating body in Brazil, Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA), will recognize the USADA sanction.

The Brazilian told Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting earlier this week that he had used EPO, was dropping his appeal, and would accept the USADA sanctioning.

“They asked me if I wanted to appeal, but it was too tiresome,” said the fighter. “Three months of meetings at the court, that’s tiring. I don’t want to appeal anymore. I’m done. I expected it to be easier, but that demands a lot from you mentally, physically and financially. If I wanted to continue the appeal, I would have to pay all the court costs from now on, I would have to pay my lawyer, and the suspension would probably go down only three or six months, I don’t know, so I decided not to appeal.”

EPO is a hormone that promotes the production of red blood cells, which carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the muscles. Increased production of red blood cells leads to improved muscle performance.