For FloCombat via AG Fight

Lyoto Machida hasn’t entered the UFC Octagon since June 2015. 

Having been suspended by USADA after failing a drug test on the eve of a scheduled fight against Dan Henderson last year, the former light heavyweight champion will make his comeback this Saturday in his native Brazil. 

"The Dragon" will square off with Derek Brunson in the main event of UFC Sao Paulo, and the road back to the cage brought more challenges than preparing for his first competition in more than two years.

Coached by Rafael Cordeiro, Machida completed his camp at Kings MMA in Huntington Beach, CA, the very gym that Kelvin Gastelum is training at for his upcoming fight against Anderson Silva at UFC Shanghai on Nov. 25. Put into the uncomfortable position of being on the same team as his friend’s next opponent, Machida elected to stay away from Gastelum on the mats until he gets his business done with “The Spider” next month.

"I didn’t train directly with Gastelum," Machida told AG. Fight for FloCombat. “It's something that has to do with respect. I'm impartial in this business. I'm a professional, I don’t want to give an advantage to either side. I'm just there to do my job and show my technique. I want to be neutral. Both Anderson and Gastelum are my friends, but for this camp, I tried to avoid [training with Gastelum] to avoid gossip.”

Aside from trying to not get in the middle of his two friends fighting, the 39-year-old veteran had to shake off more than two years of ring rust and two of the worst losses of his career. To not let himself feel the time on the sidelines, Machida not only focused on the physical and technical part of martial arts but also paid special attention to the psychological side of the game.

"I've been accustomed to competing from a young age," Machida said. “Now, the period [of inactivity] has been long, I have to admit, but I don’t want to focus on that. I have to think of it as just one more day of competition. My focus is to fight."

While the fighter’s focus is to fight, fans concentrated much more on Machida’s flunked drug test. The former champion claims that he took a supplement without knowing that it contained a prohibited substance, but he knows that any fighter who has served a suspension will remain labeled as a cheater in the eyes of many.

"From the emotional side, it was difficult at the beginning," Machida said. “People who know me, it’s OK, but those who don’t know me, they label me as a cheater who lied to get himself out of trouble. But I had the time to overcome all of this. It was a great teaching of life, not only in regard to my career."

At least the financial part hasn’t been as much of a concern for Machida as it has been for other fighters in his position.

"I have always been very focused in my life, I make investments, I do other types of work," Machida explained. “Of course, financially, if you count on something and it doesn’t come, you have to find other ways. But it went well, I was able to stabilize my life and move forward."