Jose Souza Opens Up on Doping Suspension That Nearly Ended His UFC Dream

Jose Souza opens up on doping suspension that nearly ended his UFC dream. Brazilian prospect Jose Henrique Souza will finally make his long-awaited UFC debut this weekend at UFC Macau, but the journey to get there has been anything but smooth.

Souza, who faces Ding Meng on the preliminary card at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China, revealed the emotional and professional struggles he endured during a two-year doping suspension that nearly ended his dream of fighting in the UFC.

“It was really difficult,” Souza told MMA Fighting. “I went through a lot of difficulties, a lot of bad thoughts, even thinking that I might never be able to fight in the UFC, but that only gave me more strength. It gave me the motivation to think, ‘I want to be there again, and I’m going to make it happen.’ And I did. I spent that time away working, waiting, training, giving my best every single day. That’s what gave me the strength to keep going, because I needed a goal, and my goal was to make it to the UFC.”

In 2023, Souza tested positive for metabolites of nandrolone, an anabolic substance that later led to his suspension. The Brazilian later explained that a doctor had recommended Deca-Durabolin to help treat a knee injury during training camp. According to Souza, he believed the medication would leave his system quickly and did not disclose its use to his coaches or anti-doping officials , a decision he now admits was a major mistake.

“I had fought on the Contender Series, had gone through drug testing there with no issues,” Souza said. “I was clean, I had never taken anything. That’s the truth, I had never taken anything. I left the Contender, got out of the octagon and Sean Shelby and Dana White came to my locker room and said, ‘We like you. Go get a few fights outside and we’ll bring you into the promotion.”

“Right after that I fought at Shooto Brasil, and during camp maybe two or three weeks before the fight, I injured my knee training wrestling. I went to the doctor and he told me, ‘You don’t fight in promotions with drug testing so let’s use this medication.’ That’s when he recommended Deca-Durabolin to me, something used post-surgery that works very quickly. That was it.”

“[The doctor] gave me the injection, and then shortly after that I fought at Shooto,” Souza said. “I knocked the guy out, [Andre Pederneiras] ‘Dede’ called Sean Shelby and said, ‘Look at this kid.’ Right there, when I got out of the cage, ‘Dede’ said, ‘You just signed with the UFC.’ It was that whole emotional post-fight moment. After my fight, I went to Russia with a friend who was fighting in ACA, and on March 8, they went there to test me.” Souza admitted he didn’t disclose the use of the substance upon signing with the UFC and being first tested by USADA “because the doctor had told me it would be out of my system in seven days.”

“I didn’t tell Dede [about the use] and that was my mistake,” Souza said. “The blame is completely mine, I put all of it on my shoulders because I could have talked to him beforehand and he would have guided me toward better options. But I was thinking, ‘I want to fight, I need to fight, these guys are watching me.’ And that was it.”

Speaking to MMA Fighting, Souza described the suspension as one of the most difficult periods of his life. The 24-year-old admitted that he struggled with negative thoughts and even feared he might never receive another opportunity to compete in the UFC. Despite those doubts, he remained focused on training and used the setback as motivation to keep chasing his goal.

Rather than walking away from the sport, Souza stayed active by competing in organizations that were not governed by the UFC’s anti-doping program. During that time, he earned victories in boxing and regional MMA promotions while waiting for another opportunity.

“[The UFC] had given me their word that after that year they would bring me back, and that’s exactly what they did,” Souza said. “They honored their word, and now I’m back. And you can be sure that I’ll be ready to show why I deserve to be in the UFC.”

“I learned a lot from it all,” Souza said. “I needed to go through that. The first time I signed with the UFC, I don’t think I was ready. I was a very young kid, I had no real experience in life. I learned a lot from fighting on the Contender Series, but I still had a lot of maturing to do as a person and as an athlete. Today, I’m sure that I’m much more prepared to be a UFC fighter.”

Now, after years of waiting, setbacks, and uncertainty, Jose Souza finally gets the opportunity he has been chasing.
For many fighters, a UFC debut marks the beginning of a journey. For Souza, it feels more like the completion of one. The suspension that once threatened to derail his career has become part of his story, and this weekend in Macau he gets the chance to prove that the long road back was worth it.