Gleison Tibau (photo via Super Lutas.com.br)

By FCF Staff

Although Gleison Tibau maintains he did not knowingly take a banned substance, the lightweight is reporting he will not challenge the ruling and suspension he’s been handed by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

The 32 year-old was reportedly flagged for Erythropoietin (EPO), following his submission win over Abel Trujillo in November. In a follow up report from MMA Fighting.com, Tibau relayed that he’s been suspended for two years as a result of the test.  In addition, the lightweight outlined the following, while discussing why he won’t appeal the ruling.

“It’s going to be it,” Tibau said. “They asked me if I wanted to appeal, but it was too tiresome. Three months of meetings at the court, that’s tiring. I don’t want to appeal anymore. I’m done. I expected it to be easier, but that demands a lot from you mentally, physically and financially. If I wanted to continue the appeal, I would have to pay all the court costs from now on, I would have to pay my lawyer, and the suspension would probably go down only three or six months, I don’t know, so I decided not to appeal.”

Tibau, who has been fighting in the UFC since 2006, also stated that he was not aware that EPO was a banned substance in out of competition testing. He also added that he plans to use the time away from competing to train and evolve his skills.