Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion, Fabricio Werdum, flunked an out-of-competition drug test administered by United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) back in April, one that returned positive for trenbolone and epitrenbolone.
The Brazilian had an opportunity to cut a deal with regulators and shorten his sentence; however, that would have required “Vai Cavalo” to snitch on his fellow combatants, something that Jon Jones was accused of (but denies) doing just last month.
“They said, ‘Werdum, if you tell on someone’ – using the slang, if you’re a snitch – ‘we’ll shorten your suspension,’” Werdum told Combate (via MMA Junkie). “For the guy to make me an offer like that, to snitch on someone, that goes against my principles. I can’t tell on someone. Even if I knew, I wouldn’t do it. How am I going to snitch on someone to make it better for me, to lower my suspension or whatever?”
Without tattling on another offender, Werdum (23-8-1) — who was booted from the UFC Moscow headliner in September — will be forced to ride out his two-year sentence, which at age 41, takes a significant chunk from the twilight of his UFC career.
As for Jones, he was facing a potential four-year suspension in the wake of his second failed drug test, but was able to cop a plea and get the term reduced to just 15 months. Whether that’s a result of science or snitching has yet to be determined.