After his USADA ban and subsequent UFC release, C.B. Dollaway is fit again and raring to face hard-hitting Jiri Prochazka at Rizin FF 20 in Saitama.
TOKYO – To say the last couple of years have been a roller coaster for [autotag]C.B. Dollaway[/autotag] would be a colossal understatement.
After coming back from a nagging back injury sustained in a malfunctioning elevator on UFC 203 fight week in 2016, a flagged U.S. Anti-Doping Agency drug test and subsequent suspension two years later eventually led to Dollaway’s release by the UFC as his career hit an unexpected crossroads.
Now “The Doberman” is back and ready to fight for a title as he takes on Czech powerhouse [autotag]Jiri Prochazka[/autotag] for the Rizin light heavyweight title at Rizin FF 20 on New Year’s Eve.
After seeing his reputation, then his career, take a hit following his anti-doping sanction, Dollaway (17-9 MMA) could have been forgiven for feeling bitter, but the excitement of traveling to Japan and fighting for a title on one of the biggest mixed martial arts shows of the year had him grinning from ear to ear as he chatted ahead of his promotional debut at the Saitama Super Arena.
“I’m excited to be back and competing,” he told MMA Junkie ahead of the event. “I love fighting. I’m excited to be here in Japan. I loved the UFC – noting but good things to say about them – but coming and fighting in Japan on New Year’s Eve is a pretty big deal. Fighting at the Saitama Super Arena, watching all the PRIDEs and stuff – those are the guys that I watched before I got into the sport. You know, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor, all those guys, Rampage – I just saw him down in the lobby.
“At the back of my mind I always knew one day I would be here fighting. I didn’t know it would happen how it did, but to come here and get a title fight first fight on one of the biggest cards ever, it’s a pretty big deal for me. You can’t be anything but excited.”
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Dollaway explained that his flagged USADA test was down to some questionable stem-cell treatment he underwent in Mexico, as he revealed that the treatment he received to help his ailing back actually resulted in stem cells from pigs being injected into his spine. He has since undergone further stem-cell treatment on U.S. soil to help him get back to full fitness. Remarkably, he was able to laugh off the situation, despite the considerable fallout from his trip south of the border.
“You get what you pay for,” Dollaway laughed. “The price in Mexico was very enticing. The price in America was about triple, so it is what it is. Lesson learned. But it was a blessing in disguise because now I’ve come back and I’m now a little more healthy than I was (and) able to endure a much better training camp and push the limits a little more without that down time, recovery and rest.
“I’m kind of an expert in that field now. Before I didn’t really know that much about it. I didn’t understand the different kinds of stem cells. Apparently in Mexico they were using pig stem cells, which makes sense for why they were maybe adding stuff to it, so yeah.”
Dollaway’s time away from competition may have been tricky from a professional standpoint, but from a personal health and wellbeing perspective, he says it was a huge benefit.
“It’s given me time to get healed up instead of having to take fights. Financially it put me in a tough spot, but I was able to get through it, with sponsors helping me get through. I got healthy and I feel great, and I’m excited to be back. I think I needed that time. I did some stem cell (treatment) in America – it’s much more regulated – and I think it’s helped out a little bit and I’m feeling healthy (and) excited to go test drive the new body.”
While he remains under sanction from USADA – and any promotion or athletic commission that recognizes and upholds their suspensions – Dollaway is free to fight on Dec. 31 in Japan. He may still be prevented from fighting for a major organization back home until the remainder of his suspension is served, but he says he won’t concern himself with that while he has the chance to compete in Japan with Rizin.
“I don’t much care, I don’t have many years left in the sport,” he said. “I’m going to come (to Japan) and fight. Also, I’m not in (the USADA) testing pool any more. Once you’re released from the UFC you’re out of the testing pool, you’re not a part of them any more. In the United States (there are) other organizations like Bellator and the PFL, so if they recognize USADA’s sanctions, for one year I won’t be able to compete over there. Or even if I’m not, I’m happy here fighting in Japan. It’s been nothing but great since I’ve been here. All the staff, the accommodations, I like how they run the show here.”
Now free from any sanctioning speedbumps, and with his back seemingly on the mend, Dollaway is fit, firing and ready to go ahead of his Rizin debut. And he’s been handed the just about toughest test the Japanese promotion could throw at him – a light heavyweight title fight against Prochazka (23-3-1, 11-1 Rizin), whose prodigious punch power has accounted for 13 of his last 14 wins.
But Dollaway isn’t heading into the contest unprepared, as he revealed he and his teammate, two-division Bellator champion Ryan Bader, had been scouting Prochazka for some time. And the 36-year-old Arizona native says he’s ready to go head to head with Rizin’s 205-pound champ in an old-school clash of styles that harks back to the early days of mixed martial arts.
“Ryan Bader was one of my teammates, and he was trying to get this fight. so we we’ve long been watching video on him,” he explained. “In my opinion it’s a classic striker versus wrestler matchup – I know where he’s dangerous, he knows where I’m dangerous. That being said, I feel like I’m the more well-rounded fighter, but he’s a big dude and if he hits you, he’s got a lot of knockouts. So it’s one of those things.
“Either I’m going to go out there and impose my will and hopefully submit him. There’s a small chance I could knock him out, too, if he gets too careless. It’s obviously no secret how this fight’s going to pan out. I’m going to be looking to put him on his back. He’s going to be looking to knock me out. Like UFC 1, striker versus wrestler.”
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