Islam Makhachev Gets Provisional USADA Suspension Lifted

The UFC has confirmed in an official statement this week that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has lifted the provisional ban on suspended UFC fighter Islam Makhachev. His suspension was lifted due to statements from WADA regarding the handling of Meldonium cases. As a result, Makhachev can now return to MMA competiton. You can read UFC’s full statement below:

The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, has lifted Islam Makhachev’s provisional suspension due to recent WADA statements regarding the handling of Meldonium cases, making him immediately eligible to return to competition. Makhachev was provisionally suspended by USADA on April 15, 2016, as a result of a potential Anti-Doping Policy Violation involving Meldonium, a prohibited substance on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.

Further information concerning WADA’s Meldonium statements may be found on the WADA website.

As previously reported, Makhachev failed a pre-fight drug test earlier this year for meldonium, and his scheduled fight for UFC on FOX 19 was cancelled as a result. The Meldonium substance was not added to the WADA list of banned substances until January 1, 2016, leading some athletes to claim they had taken it before that time frame before it was banned.