Former UFC fighter Jesse Taylor is one of the few people who understands exactly what Conor Benn has gone through this year.
In October, Benn was scheduled to take on Chris Eubank Jr in a huge fight, but it was cancelled when it was revealed that ‘The Destroyer’ had failed two drug tests in the build-up.
The drug found in his system was Clomifene, also known as clomiphene or simply Clomid, which is primarily used to treat infertility in women who do not ovulate.
It works similarly to estrogen in that it stimulates egg production in women to give them the best chance possible of getting pregnant.
However, it can double as a performance enhancer as it also increases testosterone in men when taken as a daily pill.
Benn has always maintained he is a clean fighter and recently claimed to have proven his innocence ahead of 2023 which he believes is the year he becomes a world champion.
Taylor was unable to do the same back in 2017 when he tested positive for clomiphene and received a one-year ban from MMA before being kicked out of the UFC.
He told talkSPORT: “To this day, I think the whole thing was bulls***. First of all, guys get popped all the time for this, and they’re allowed to fight.
“It was a trace residual, so that means there was nothing that would do anything. I was kind of naive with USADA (United States Anti-Doping).
“I think they were kind of new at the time, and I should have thought better, but I have no idea. I’ve done drug tests before and after and passed them all. I’m guessing, I do take supplements, maybe something I took.
“But again, the whole thing is kind of bulls***, and it fires me up. I never really found out what happened with it or where it came from.”
The 39-year-old, who will fight Christian Leroy Duncan (7-0) for the Cage Warriors middleweight title on December 31, has a little bit of advice for Benn.
Taylor added: “Just do [your] research, because like I said, it happens all the time, and a lot of times it’s swept under the rug, or sometimes they don’t make a big deal about it.
“Sometimes people are doing it, they are cheating, but you can tell by the levels. So, if you look at the report they gave that boxer, he looks and there’s no levels. So, yeah, it’s probably from an outside source.
“Just do your homework and you should be able to fight it.”
It appears Benn and his team have done just that after his recent social media post that suggested he will be back in the ring sooner rather than later.
