TJ Dillashaw talks about intentional cheating and explains his decision

Former UFC bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw, gave his first in-depth interview since his suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Dillashaw tested positive for the banned substance EPO and was subsequently sentenced to a two-year suspension. "The Viper" was very open jump on the intentional use of the substance, knowing that it was banned. He has now explained his decision in a recent interview with Chael Sonnen, former UFC title contender on numerous occasions, and current Bellator fighter.

The couple discussed the issue on the Sonnen podcast, "You're welcomeAnd Dillashaw explained that his reduction to 125 pounds for his flyweight title bout against Henry Cejudo was the reason he decided to take EPO. His body started to break during the weight cut, and Dillashaw needed to relax because he was losing his motivation to go to the practice room:

"I hid, I did not do any interviews, I did not do it – I just hid – there are things I wanted to say, but I did not not done, because do not want to apologize, "said Dillashaw. "Let's start with first and foremost, I cheated. I do not want to run around that, which is why I even announced it when USADA was coming out. I did not want to apologize.

"It was like, look, that's it, I did it, I want to be honest with you guys. I did not want to apologize why I did it, I knew I would talk about it, and now it's the first time I've done it. I loved so much doing something that has never been done before. Not the two champions. Obviously, I wanted more than anything to prove that I wanted to prove that I'm the best in the world, but I also had to give up that weight category. I am a skinny 135'er. I wanted to give up the weight class to go to 125, and I played how easy it was. "I can do it, no problem, I've always reduced the weight."

"And I pushed my body to the extreme. About six weeks later, my body started to collapse, I started to get tired, I started to feel that I did not want to wake up for training. I test everything. I test my hair for toxins, I test my saliva for hormone levels – I want to be the most optimized athlete as possible. And I started crushing myself.

Dillashaw then revealed that he had taken Procrit, an anemia medication that would help him gain weight for the contest. Interestingly, Dillashaw said he was not crazy about taking the banned substance because he could not have fought without her. However, he acknowledges that he cheated and that, in itself, he had a negative impact on him:

"I decided to take something that I knew I did not have the right to take," admitted Dillashaw. "It's called Procrit, it's an anti-anemia drug that would help me not only gain weight but also be myself. And you know, I'm not sorry I did it, because I do not think I could fight. I will obviously admit that I cheated, that I got caught – it's a tough one to cook. It's hard not to hate you a bit. For – I do not know. This is a difficult case. "