Derek Brunson: 'Blatant cheater' Yoel Romero deserves 2-year suspension

Derek Brunson has become one of the hottest prospects in the UFC middleweight division over his past three fights, but it's his lone loss inside the Octagon that agitates him, especially considering the man who beat him recently tested positive for a banned substance.

Brunson took on Olympic silver medalist Yoel Romero in early 2014 and after winning the first two rounds against the Cuban-born fighter, he suffered a TKO loss in a late comeback in the final five minutes.

A loss is always going to haunt a fighter no matter how it happens, but when Romero was recently flagged for an anti-doping violation by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), it stung Brunson even more because that's the one fighter he's faced in the UFC who got the better of him, and now he questions whether or not it happened naturally.

"I messed up my jaw in that fight. I take him down and he's exploding up. Why? Because his tendons are big, he's stronger and he's all juiced out of his mind," Brunson told FOX Sports when speaking about Romero. "I don't feel bad for him. He can do something else, but there's rules and regulations and when you do certain things in life you have to deal with the consequences. That goes for everybody.

"I expect to see two years minimum out of this guy because he's a blatant cheater."

Following the revelation that he had tested positive for a banned substance, Romero admitted that he took a supplement that was tainted but it wasn't his fault because he never knowingly imbibed an illegal substance.

USADA's rules state that athletes must be aware of the supplements they put in their body, with a stern warning that they are still ultimately responsible. Even if labels say one thing, what's inside a bottle or package is something completely different.

Brunson agrees with that ideology and he says Romero's excuse is just his way of trying to lessen the blow for what could amount to be a minimum two year suspension from fighting for the infraction.

"I think people need to call it for what it is. Don't sugar coat it. We don't want to hear that tainted substance, you know what you put in your body. If somebody comes to you with something, the first thing you'd do is hold on a minute. Nobody gave you nothing, you took it," Brunson said.

"I think if we were before USADA, he would have just owned up to it and took it but with USADA rules saying two years minimum, of course he's going to try to make up anything to reduce the sentence. The dude deserves two years."

There's little doubt that a two-year suspension would virtually kill Romero's current standing in the middleweight division, where he was arguably no more than one fight away from a title shot. Add to that, Romero will turn 39 later this year.

A two-year suspension would push him into his 40s and time would be ticking on whether or not Romero could even push for a comeback after that long away.

As of now, Romero is still awaiting word from USADA on what will happen with his case, but chances are he's going to face a suspension of some kind regardless of why he tested positive.

If Brunson had his way, however, Romero would be sitting out for at least two years as a repercussion for his actions.