Chad Mendes broke his silence today about his positive drug test that resulted in a 2 year suspension. The top ranked UFC Featherweight tested positive for GHRP-6, a peptide on USADA’s banned substance list.
“It was GHRP-6. Before all this stuff came out I had no idea what that was. I don’t even know what that is and I started doing a bunch of research. This isn’t even a steroid, it’s a peptide. It’s basically an anti-aging type peptide,” Mendes told KHTK Radio today.
As to why Mendes was taking GHRP-6, Bloody Elbow’s Nick Baldwin reported last week that the banned substance was in a skin cream that Mendes was using to treat a skin condition. Mendes confirmed this report.
“I have suffered from plaque psoriasis my entire life. I’ve had that since I can even remember. I remember getting on the wrestling mat as a kid and people saying, ‘Ah you have a giant ringworm!’. It’s itchy all the damn time.”
Mendes went on to talk about the wide array of treatments that he had tried in order to combat the condition, usually with little success. He says that the latest lotion that he used contained the banned substance and takes fault for not doing his research.
“I broke the rules. Did I use it? Of course. I didn’t go to USADA and make some BS story. The only other thing that I started using that was new was the lotion, and sure enough GHRP-6 was one of the damn ingredients. Whether it’s intentional or not, that’s breaking the rules. I basically said, “alright I broke the rules.’”
The interview comes a month after Mendes was notified of the banned substance and a week after he was handed a two year suspension. Mendes has remained quite due to his embarrassment over the mistake.
“It’s embarrassing to be honest, this is another reason why I haven’t talked about it. For this to come out and to be labelled a ‘juice head.’ I don’t ever want to be labelled a guy that’s cheating and taking steroids. It really is embarrassing to me. I’ve been trying to avoid it but it’s something that needs to get out cause I owe it to my true fans and I just feel horrible for them.”
Mendes also vocalized his disappointment in the fans and media who have been hard on his since the news broke.
“It’s been rough man, you get a lot of ignorant people in the comments and people in the media writing stuff that isn’t true and then headlines coming out and then people believe whatever they read.”
You can find out more about the substance that Mendes tested positive for from Iain Kidd, who took the time to breakdown just what GHRP-G is and what it does.
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