UFC heavyweight Geronimo dos Santos has been granted a release by the company. "Mondragon" signed with the UFC in 2012 and was scheduled to fight Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 153 late that year. However, during pre fight medical tests, dos Santos failed a test for Hepatitis B.
back in June his manager Alex Davis told Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting why he still had not fought.
"His viral count is now at zero, which means he doesn’t have the disease anymore, but Nevada demands three positive results for antibodies and we’re still waiting for the last one," said Davis. "Doctors said that when you undergo a chemotherapy treatment like he did, the last one usually takes longer than the other ones, but he can’t fight until it does.
"I find it a little extreme because there’s no viral count anymore. There’s no virus, he no longer transmits the disease, but I’m not a doctor and I can’t question the athletic commission, so we have to wait."
It has been two years and apparently dos Santos's immune system has not fully recovered, so he asked to be released by the UFC, and it was granted. In an interview with Brazil's Tatame, dos Santos explains.
"I’m healed, thank God, but my immunity is still low," said dos Santos as translated by MMAFighting. "It takes a long time to be right back up, and I was losing money, because I couldn’t fight during the treatment, even if I’m already healed. The Nevada Athletic Commission is very strict, and I’m not cleared to fight until my immune system is back to normal. I want to fight again, but I couldn’t do anything here since I had an exclusive contract with them."
"Making my UFC debut in this situation would be too much for me. It’s going to be different now, because I will be fighting and my immune system will be back up soon, so I will be better again. I don’t have anything to lose. I’m 33, but I won’t quit my dream of fighting in the UFC."
Dos Santos already has four fights in Brazil booked for the Fall, and hopes to return to the UFC in time.
Hepatitis B is a serious liver infection caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV). For some people, hepatitis B infection becomes chronic, leading to liver failure, liver cancer or cirrhosis — a condition that causes permanent scarring of the liver.
Most people infected with hepatitis B as adults recover fully, even if their signs and symptoms are severe. Infants and children are much more likely to develop a chronic hepatitis B infection. Although no cure exists for hepatitis B, a vaccine can prevent the disease.
Jostain syystä luulen että tässä haluttomuudessa on kyse jostain muustakin kuin hepatiitista
