Former undisputed lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov and current division kingpin, Islam Makhachev have once more been slapped with accusations of utilising PEDs (Performance enhancing drugs) during their respective UFC tenures, according to contender, Benoit Saint Denis, who claimed the pair were “loaded like mules”.
Nurmagomedov, a former undisputed lightweight champion and recent inductee into the promotion’s Hall of Fame, bowed out from the sport back in late 2020, following a spectacular lightweight title unification win over then-interim gold holder, Justin Gaethje in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
As for Islam Makhachev, the American Kickboxing Academy staple and current pound-for-pound number one ranked fighter under the banner of the UFC, headlined a pay-per-view event most recently in October, landing a stunning opening round high-kick knockout win over featherweight champion, Alexander Volkanovski in the pair’s lightweight rematch.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev hit with PED use accusations
And slapped with accusations of utilizing banned substances in the past by common-rival, former two-weight champion, Conor McGregor, Islam Makhachev’s prior indiscretion with the banned substance, meldonium has left the aforenoted, Saint Denis speculating that the stable of fighters are collectively utilizing PEDs “intelligently”.
“Regarding the Nurmagomedov family, for example, I no longer have any doubt,” Benoit Saint Denis told La Figaro during a recent interview. “They are loaded like mules. They are intelligent in the way they do drugs, but they know how to do it very well.”
Pour Benoît Saint-Denis, le dopage n'est pas compatible avec ses valeurs et sa foi.
pic.twitter.com/Omp662X96d
— La Sueur (@LaSueur_off) December 12, 2023
“(Islam) Makhachev was caught with meldonium, for example, this is a product that got the entire Russian Federation sanctioned and removed from the 2016 Olympics,” Saint Denis continued. “The current UFC lightweight champion got caught in 2016.”
In the midst of an impressive five-fight undefeated win streak since June of last year, Saint Denis most recently stopped fellow lightweight contender, Matt Frevola with a hellacious first round high-kick KO in the pair’s UFC 295 clash back in November at Madison Square Garden. The stoppage win earned Saint Denis the number twelve rank in the division to boot.