Maldonado: I used banned substance in UFC, will use it in Fedor fight

No longer competing in the UFC, Fabio Maldonado is free to go to any lengths to beat legend Fedor Emelianenko.

Russian promotion Fight Nights has decided to forgo any doping tests ahead of an upcoming card headlined by Maldonado and Emelianenko. Maldonado told Brazilian publication Ag Fight he plans to use dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) to prepare for the fight, which he also did near the end of his UFC run.

"It's me against him. Everybody understands these things, right?" Maldonado said, according to Lucas Rezende of Bloody Elbow. "I'm not trying to make myself look like a victim here. Everybody understands and knows what I will take and what I won't take.

"What I can say is that I don't take those things, but for example, when I was in my final UFC stretch and they had random tests, I was using DHEA, because the doctor told me it's good for men past 32, it's good for your skin and your hormones. It wasn't even a PED. I'm not taking any yet, but I believe I'll start next week."

DHEA is a steroid hormone banned by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.

Since being released by the UFC in November, Maldonado scored knockout wins in a pair of boxing matches. He returns to MMA to meet Emelianenko in a heavyweight bout June 17 in St. Petersburg, Russia.