After publicly telling the media he would use DHEA for his upcoming bout against Fedor Emelianenko, Fabio Maldonado took to Instagram to explain himself since his words had caused quite an impact. He went as far as to say he took USADA-forbidden substance while he was still fighting for the UFC.

As Maldonado said, though, he was merely joking about his intentions for using it in the Fedor fight.

"I've doing a lot of interviews about my next fights lately and one of questions I got was whether or not I would take steroids to fight Fedor. I answered I was going to be all juiced up, but I thought it was more of a joke with the reporter, I didn't know it was going to be taken seriously. I also said I was going to be careful not to take some substance that is might get to fail a doping test. If I disappointed any fans, I apologize. I've been tested since 2003 when I debuted at boxing and I'm always open to exams, like I have been all my life."

He also defended Fedor in an interview with Combate (via MMA Fighting), citing "The Last Emperor's" clean record in promotions where there was drug testing.

"I didn't even think about it yet," he said when asked if he would use banned substances. "I really wouldn't use this as an excuse in case I lose. I know (Fedor) is really strong and really fast. If you say that Fedor's success is due to steroids you're being unfair, because he fought at Affliction and Strikeforce and they did drug testing there. He was never caught. For me, it's whatever. I have a lot of friends who are bodybuilders and I would talk to them. If I have to throw something in, we'll do it."

Fabio Maldonado is scheduled to take on Fedor Emelianenko at Fight Nights, in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on June 17.