“I entered into the match in good faith and without the slightest thought of seeking any form of drug advantage. I had been having trouble sleeping because of some non related issues and had felt fatigued for some days. I wanted to put on the best performance for the fans, so foolishly took a small dose sleeping tablet to help me sleep. I genuinely believed what I had taken to be harmless and did not think that it would contravene the standards set by Cage Rage.

However, to my surprise it did contravene the standards and disciplinary action was taken against me by the promoter. I am of course surprised by the severity of the response, but accept that a standard is a standard and that I should have been more careful. I can only hope that people will see that taking a sleeping tablet isn't the same as taking illegal narcotics or steroids, and that I will be judged fairly in what was a genuine mistake.

Apologies to, Jake, my Trojan brothers, the fans and Cage Rage and I look forward to competing when my bans up.”

We now hope at Nuzik that this clears up the matter of what drugs he has taken and those that are blasting rumours around of something more severe will now keep quiet. Nuzik wishes Johnny all the best with his career and hope that he can bounce back from this. We also understand the important of the dope testing in the sport and hope this will be a deterrent of anyone else wishing to abuse any substance in the future.

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