UFC: Brock Lesnar breaks silence over doping allegations

Brock Lesnar following his victory over Mark Hunt at UFC 200 in Las Vegas last week. Photo / Getty Images

UFC heavyweight fighter Brock Lesnar has spoken for the first time since a drug test he submitted on June 28 came back testing positive for a banned substance, resulting in a potential doping violation.

Lesnar's test was returned to him by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) on July 14, before being passed onto the UFC on Friday following the positive test results.

In a statement, the former UFC heavyweight champion claimed that he would "get to the bottom of this", as well as supplying letters of copies fom three previous tests by USADA, which documented how Lesnar had not been pulled up for any of those samples.

Following Lesnar's response to his doping violation, USADA spokesperson Ryan Madden confirmed that the WWE star will undergo the full process that is needed to be carried out following a doping violaation.

"With Mr. Lesnar having spoken publicly about the issue, I can confirm that he has been notified of a potential anti-doping policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collection on June 28, 2016," Madden said.

"I can also confirm that the results from his previous samples collected by USADA were all reported as negative. Although USADA will not be providing any further specifics of the case at this time, I can tell you that Mr. Lesnar - as with every athlete under the UFC anti-doping policy - will be provided full due process under the rules."

It is possible for Lesnar to request that the secondary sample from the June 28 samples be tested, and he has afforded a full appeals process under the UFC's anti-doping policy.

It has not yet been announced what the illicit substance that Lesnar took was, and it will not be known until either Lesnar decides to make it publicly known himself what substance he took, or the adjudication process afforded to the fighter is confirmed.

As the sample collected was not returned until July 14, Lesnar and the UFC were not notified about the potential doping violation until then, meaning the one-time NFL player was able to compete at UFC 200, which was held on July 9.

At the event, he went on to defeat Kiwi fighter Mark Hunt - whos has since publicly vented his frustration at Lesnar's violation - by unanimous decision.