Hector Lombard has now been officially suspended for a year after testing positive for the illegal anabolic steroid, desoxymethyltestosterone, following his victory over Josh Burkman at UFC 182 back in January.
Lombard was also fined $70,000 (includes his full win bonus along with 33% of his fight purse), while his victory has been amended to a no-contest ruling.
The 37 year-old’s suspension will end on January 3rd of 2016 at which point he’ll have to take an additional drug test before being allowed to compete again.
For the record, Lombard denied knowingly taking steroids at a hearing yesterday and has blamed the positive test on an antibiotic, azithromycin, also known as Z-Pak, which he took after the weigh-ins to help him recover from a bout of flu.
“If I would’ve known they were illegal, I wouldn’t have taken them. It was stupid on my behalf. … I messed up,” Lombard stated.
Up until his failed test Lombard was making good progress in the UFC after dropping down to welterweight in October of 2013, racking up three wins in a row to push his way into title contention.
Now, with one of those wins rescinded, his reputation damaged and the fact that he’ll be another year closer to 40 by the time he’s given permission to fight again, Lombard is going to have a tough time getting back to that position.
