Chinzo Machida: ‘I don’t think it’s fair’ for Lyoto to face two-year USADA ban

Chinzo Machida (3-2) is set to make his Bellator MMA debut tomorrow night in Anaheim, California, where he’ll be taking on Mario Navarro on the Spike.com streamed online preliminary card. The 39-year-old hasn’t fought since winning under the RFA banner back in 2014, but will be back in action at Bellator 160, as he looks for a 3rd successive win.

It’s a very different story for Chinzo’s younger brother, former UFC light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. “The Dragon” was pulled from his April showdown with Dan Henderson after he disclosed that he took a supplement that contained 7-keto-DHEA, a substance banned both in and out-of-competition per USADA guidelines.

In a recent interview with the Three Amigos Podcast, Chinzo spoke about his sibling’s USADA troubles and whether or not a potential 2 year ban is a fair deal.

“No, I don’t think it’s fair because he took a supplement and he mentioned this before the fight,” Chinzo said. “He didn’t know that supplement contained a forbidden substance. But I don’t want to talk about this, let’s see what’s going to happen in a few months about him. I don’t think it’s fair to him because he bought these supplements over-the-counter, so maybe ... I’m not sure — let’s see what’s going to happen to him.”

Lyoto and Chinzo were frequently pitted against each other in karate tournaments in Brazil. Chinzo even revealed during the interview that Lyoto gave him a scar on his cheek after punching him in a tournament final (which Chinzo won). Reflecting back on those days, Chinzo believes that their skillsets both benefited from their sibling rivalry.

“We competed a lot,” he said. “That helped us to improve our techniques, because sometimes I beat him, sometimes he beat me, and it made us study more about the distance, about the technique, about the [timing]. So these things made us grow faster and improve our technique at the same time.”

You can check out the entire interview here at the 1:11:45 mark in the audio, or via the embedded player below. Remember, if you're looking for us on SoundCloud or iTunes, we're under the MMA Nation name. Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes, Three Amigos Podcast, George Lockhart, Iain Kidd and Mookie Alexander, or our Facebook fan page, Three Amigos Pod.