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Fabio Maldonado backtracks on controversial doping comments prior to Fedor Emelianenko fight

Fabio Maldonado will face Fedor Emelianenko on July 17, and recent comments about the lack of drug testing at Fight Nights raised some eyebrows.

Maldonado, who also has a 240-pound catchweight fight scheduled for May 6 in Brazil, will move up to heavyweight to fight "The Last Emperor" in Russia, and told Ag. Fight Wednesday that he used banned substances in his final UFC fights, and was planning on using it before his upcoming bout in St. Petersburg.

"It’s only me and him," Maldonado said of his fight with Emelianenko. "Everybody understands about these things [doping].