Tomorrow’s UFC on FOX 19 fight card has seen another change as the scheduled lightweight bout between Islam Makhachev and Drew Dober has been canceled following Makhachev being informed of a potential Anti-Doping Policy Violation.
The removal of Makhachev was announced by the UFC in a statement on Friday evening and the statement confirmed that a banned substance was found in a recent out-of competition drug test the fighter submitted to USADA.
The complete UFC statement on Makhachev is below.
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) informed Islam Makhachev of a potential Anti-Doping Policy Violation involving Meldonium, a prohibited substance, stemming from a recent out-of-competition sample collection. In accordance with the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, Makhachev has received a provisional suspension, and has been removed from his scheduled bout against Drew Dober from Saturday’s card in Tampa, Florida.
The UFC Anti-Doping Program follows the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List of Substances, which is updated yearly. Meldonium was recently added to the WADA Prohibited List, which went into effect on January 1, 2016. WADA recently announced that they are currently conducting further studies of the substance which may influence how cases involving Meldonium are evaluated. In order to ensure Makhachev receives full and fair due process, USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will consider all relevant information before making any determinations.
Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
With the Makhachev vs. Dober off the fight card, the event will go forward with eleven fights and the current fight card lineup is below.
Main Card: (FOX – 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m PT)
Glover Teixeira (24-4) vs. Rashad Evans (19-4, 1NC)
Rose Namajunas (4-2) vs. Tecia Torres (7-0)
Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0) vs. Darrell Horcher (12-1)
Cub Swanson (21-7) vs. Hacran Dias (23-3-1)
Preliminary Card: (FOX – 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT)
Beneil Dariush (12-1) vs. Michael Chiesa (13-2)
Bethe Correia (9-1) vs. Raquel Pennington (6-5)
Court McGee (17-4) vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio (21-3)
Randy Brown (7-0) vs. Michael Graves (5-0)
Preliminary Card: (Fight Pass – 4:30 p.m. ET/1:30 p.m. PT)
John Dodson (17-7) vs. Manny Gamburyan (15-8, 1NC)
Cezar Ferreira (8-5) vs. Oluwale Bamgbose (6-1)
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (14-5) vs. Omari Akhmedov (15-3)