UFC middleweight Lyoto Machida suspended 18 months for USADA violation

Damn.

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida was suspended 18 months for his United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) violation, which bounced him from his Dan Henderson rematch at UFC on FOX 19 last April.

Jon Jones, by comparison, got off easy.

See you next October.

"The Dragon" insists he wasn’t trying to game the system when listing 7-Keto (which contains the prohibited substance DHEA) on his pre-fight declaration, not that anyone in the 185-pound division believes him.

"I was caught by surprise by this news,” Machida said in a video post shortly after losing his “Hendo” do-over. “It has been very difficult for me. I always try to play by the book, but unfortunately this happened."

One man’s loss is another man’s gain.

Machida (22-7) is nearly two years removed from his last win, having suffered back-to-back losses to Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero. The Brazilian karateka will turn 39 before he is eligible to return.

And the competition isn’t getting any easier.