Former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir has been flagged by USADA, the UFC’s independent drug testing service, for a potential anti-doping violation.

Mir has been fighting in the UFC since 2001. At his last fight, UFC Fight Night 85 on March 20, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia, Mir lost by a brutal KO to Mark Hunt in Round 1.

Mir has declared his innocence on the Phone Booth Fighting podcast .

Mir talked about potential reasons for the failed drug test, and also blames kangaroo meat that he ate in Australia (Transcript Bloody Elbow):

“I couldn’t tell you a single restaurant I remember eating at. I even remember calling James and saying ‘do you remember where we ate?’ I had to write down all of the places we went. And even if I could figure it out; let’s say someone could document where I went. You’re telling me USADA are gonna go down, and, on my behalf, try to test all the different meats to see if, well, you know, kanagaroos are wild and this guy wanted to beef em’ up so he bought something that was very abudnant – in the study that I did – oral turinabol could be bought in powdered form.

You put it on the food and you bulk up your livestock, and you could sell it into the stores because now you get more bang for your buck. An animal that takes two years to reach maturity, you know, muscle weight, now in four months he’s bigger than he’s ever gonna be and you slaughter him. It’s a common practice. I don’t know, I’m not pointing the finger any where, I’m just saying there’s so many loopholes for me to sit there and go ‘where did it come from?’ Hell man, I don’t know, I really don’t. All I know is that I didn’t willingly take anything.”

Mir pleaded on social media, for fans to pre-judge him:

On Friday, the UFC released this statement:

“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Frank Mir of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an in-competition sample collected the day of his fight on March 20, 2016 in Brisbane, Australia.

USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Mir. It is important to note that, under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed.

Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.”