Recently, Bloody Elbow’s Steph Daniels spoke to WSOF fighter Andrew McInnes. McInnes is a rising prospect, set to take on recently un-retired UFC vet Cody McKenzie on the main card of WSOF 18: Moraes vs. Hill this Thursday, February 12th in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Along with a variety of interesting things he had to say, McInnes had some very specfic allegations to level at one of the longest tenured fighters on the current UFC roster, lightweight ironman Gleison Tibau.
The only person that’s a really heavy juicer that has any longevity at all is Gleison Tibau, and he’s a rare exception.
Tibau is a 24 fight veteran of the UFC and often remarked upon for his massive size as one of the organization’s largest lightweight fighters. Still, he’s never tested positive for any form of PED, and in a statement to MMAMania was quick to dismiss any allegations against him, along with McInnes, as someone who would possibly be in a place to make those kinds of allegations.
“This Wednesday afternoon, February 11th, when I was going out of a practice at American Top Team, I was surprised by the information that the fighter Andrew McInnes was interviewed and pointed me out when talking about doping, calling me ‘pumped’ and giving guarantees that I use banned substances to improve my performance in the UFC Octagon. I am totally against any factor that benefits athletes in their income. In my point of view, only skills and training should have influence on the final outcome of a fight.
Honestly, I don’t know him, neither personally nor professionally. I’ve never seen him fighting, not even have I heard about his fights. So I checked out on the internet and saw that he’s had a short career on MMA still. In all my life as a fighter, I had more anti-doping tests at UFC than the number of professional fights he’s got. I have 15 years of career, my name is in the history of the biggest MMA organization in the world as one of the fighters that has mostly stepped into the Octagon, within 24 fights. A total of 43 professional fights, and in none of them I was caught for doping or for overweight in my category, that is currently lightweight.
For all of this, I really feel sorry for Mclnnes pronouncement or for anyone else that says that I do something illegal in sport or in life. Anyways, I wish him success.”
Tibau has every right to defend himself from McInnes’ accusation. After all, he’s never failed a drug test, or even come under direct suspicion as a PED user. Outwardly, he’s just a large guy (who’s been often promoted for his size) who cuts a lot of weight and has a muscled physique. But, in the current climate of drug test failures and PED use stories, it’s likely that a lot more fighters are going to come under scrutiny, if not direct accusations of drug use, even without any real evidence to back up those claims.
For his part, Tibau returns to action on February 28th at UFC 184, where he’ll take on Tony Ferguson in Los Angeles, California. The card is set to be headlined by a woman’s bantamweight title fight between champion Ronda Rousey and challenger Cat Zingano.
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