Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, is expected to defend his 155-pound title against newly-crowned interim division titleholder, Dustin Poirier, at the upcoming UFC 242 pay-per-view (PPV) event this September in Abu Dhabi.
Joining “The Eagle” will be Dagestani comrades Islam Makhachev, Zubaira Tukhugov, and Mairbek Taisumov, among others, affectionately known as “Team Meldonium” for their respective run-ins with United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
That’s according to former 155-pound kingpin, Conor McGregor.
Team Meldonium.
3 on this list caught on performance enhancers in the past already.
Islam, zubaira and Mairbek.
Dirty smelly rats all of them. https://t.co/izxYVfNAPW— Conor McGregor (@TheNotoriousMMA) May 6, 2019
While Tukhugov (ostarine) and Taisumov (stanozolol) were both suspended for positive drug tests, Makhachev was later ruled “not at fault” for meldonium. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, has never been popped for banned substances or performance-enhancing drugs.
The “Notorious” tweet has been getting some extra attention on social media because of the recent Twitter war between McGregor and Nurmagomedov. One that crossed a few lines not only in taste, but also in the promotion’s code of conduct.
As of this writing, Nurmagomedov and his teammates have yet to respond.