UFC middleweight Michael Bisping says he did not have too strong a reaction to the promotion lifting its one-year suspension on his former opponent Cung Le this week.
The UFC announced Tuesday that it had rescinded Le's suspension due to a lack of "conclusive laboratory results" from a postfight drug test on Aug. 23 in Macau.
Le, 42, was originally suspended after a Hong Kong lab found his human growth hormone level to be above the lab's normal reference intervals. The blood sample was taken immediately after Bisping (25-6) defeated Le via TKO in the fourth round of a bout that headlined a UFC Fight Night event at Cotai Arena.
The lab that administered the test, however, was not certified by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is considered the gold standard (and arguably, only reliable) method for testing HGH. The lab also did not preserve Le's second samples -- or "B" samples -- in the event of an appeals process.
Because he won the bout -- not to mention his focus is likely on an upcoming fight against Luke Rockhold -- Bisping says he hasn't been overly concerned with Le's suspension but did say he felt it was lifted due to a "loophole."
"To be honest, right from the very start I was indifferent because I won the fight," Bisping told ESPN.com. "Had I lost, I would have been outraged. But I won it in style, via stoppage, and I got a bonus for it. If anything, it makes me look better that he was on all kinds of stuff and I was able to beat him.
"Regarding the suspension being lifted, listen, I'm not a scientist. I don't know all the details. I know the blood samples were destroyed, so it looks like, to me, he got off on a loophole or a technicality."
In what initially looked as though it would be an appeals process, Le and his management group pointed to a study by the British Journal of Sports Medicine that found HGH levels in the body naturally increase during physical activity.
Noting once again his lack of a scientific degree, Bisping questioned that defense, saying his HGH levels were also tested after the 16-minute fight. The UFC has stated that four athletes were blood tested from the Aug. 23 event.
"They're saying his HGH levels were high after a fight for a number of natural reasons," Bisping said. "Well, his were the only levels that were high. Mine weren't high. Nobody else's were high. He was the one everybody was suspecting going into the fight. There's no smoke without fire, but I'm not a scientist and I haven't even read the stories about it because I couldn't care less. Cung Le is old news for me. Done and dusted. I'm focused on the future."
