Dan Henderson says he heard Lyoto Machida might not pass UFC on FOX 19 drug test

TAMPA, Fla. – Veteran UFC contender Dan Henderson was getting ready to shoot a pre-fight interview for his UFC on FOX 19 bout when he received a call from UFC President Dana White.

White bore the bad news that’s now forced another shuffle to Saturday’s UFC on FOX 19 card, which lost another fight when ex-lightweight champ Lyoto Machida (22-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) was flagged for a banned supplement and pulled from his fight with Henderson on the FOX-televised main card at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

“I was just about to film when Dana called and said it was a possibility I might not be fighting,” Henderson (31-14 MMA, 8-8 UFC) today told MMAjunkie via telephone interview.

Machida later released a statement admitting use of a banned supplement, which prompted UFC anti-doping partner USADA to pull the plug on the fight, and claiming he did not know the supplement’s active ingredient, 7-Keto, was forbidden.

But while Henderson was in “disbelief” about the loss of his fight, he said the notification jogged his memory about what he’d heard about Machida in training camp and prior to the booking.

“I had some other people tell me they’d be surprised if he passed a drug test,” Henderson said. “It didn’t come to mind until a little bit later.”

Machida’s rep, Ed Soares, did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Henderson, who previously lost a split decision to Machida at UFC 157, didn’t say where he’d gotten the information, but said he’d received the information over the last month and remembered an accusation from his former opponent, Gegard Mousasi, who claimed Machida was greased and used steroids, when he thought about the most recent turn of events.

Henderson stopped short of officially accusing the ex-champ of any impropriety, but expressed frustration at not being able to fight, and in particular, not getting paid for work.

“It’s just unfortunate,” he said. “It’s just disrespectful of him, to the fans, the sport, and to me, for him to do that.

“I really have nothing to say to him. It’s just (expletive). It wastes everyone’s time. It wastes my time in training camp and money. I’ve got 50 people coming out from California to Tampa to watch the fight that I’m not fighting in any more because of his choices.”

Henderson said White offered to pay for some of the costs from his training camp, which should help offset his total losses. And yet, because the cancelation did not occur immediately before the fight, he will not receive his “show” purse.

“It puts me in a really bad spot, this time of the year being tax time,” Henderson said. “I needed to get paid. Counting on getting paid, it’s just irritating and frustration.”

Thankfully for Henderson, the cancelation brought with it news of another booking, a middleweight matchup against Hector Lombard at UFC 199, which takes place June 4 at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Sherdog.com first reported the pending matchup, which Henderson said is scheduled.

“It’s fine,” he said of the Lombard booking. “I think it’s a much more exciting fight than this one would be, based on Hector isn’t a guy that’s going to run the whole fight.”

While happy about the style matchup, Henderson admitted he also has concerns about Lombard, who once was bounced from a fight with onetime welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald in the wake of a positive drug test for a designer steroid.

“I’m going to make sure that I get paid this time, even if something happens like that,” Henderson said. “Have them have a backup opponent just in case? I don’t know.”

In the UFC-produced “Road to the Octagon” special for UFC on FOX 19, Henderson bemoaned a string of bad luck in the latter stage of his career, whether from injuries or setbacks inside the promotion’s octagon.

After his latest hiccup, he can only look forward to the next one.

For more on UFC on FOX 19 and UFC 199, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.