Ruslan Magomedov has become the first fighter under the UFC-USADA partnership to get a lifetime ban for repeat violations.
It’s been almost four years since Russian UFC heavyweight Ruslan Magomedov last competed inside the Octagon. Thanks to multiple drug testing violations, there will never be a “next UFC fight” for Magomedov.
USADA announced on Monday that Magomedov tested positive for multiple banned substances last October, then followed that up by refusing to take another drug test a few months later. Add that to his positive test (and subsequent two-year ban) for ostarine from 2016 and you have three strikes, meaning he’s getting a lifetime suspension.
From the official press release:
USADA announced today that Ruslan Magomedov, of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, has received a lifetime sanction after his second and third violations of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy.
Magomedov, 32, received a second violation after he tested positive for methyltestosterone metabolite 17?-methyl-5?-androstan-3?, 17?-diol, as well as stanozolol metabolites 3’-hydroxystanozolol-O-glucuronide, 16?-hydroxystanozolol-O-glucuronide, and stanozolol-N-glucuronide, as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on October 10, 2018. Methyltestosterone and stanozolol are non-Specified Substances in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
The athlete’s third violation resulted from his refusal to complete the sample collection process as requested by a doping control officer during an out-of-competition test on February 5, 2019. Refusing or failing to submit to sample collection, without compelling justification, is a doping violation under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy.
Magomedov (14-1) fought just three times in the UFC, winning by decision against Viktor Pesta, Josh Copeland, and Shawn Jordan. The Jordan fight was way back at UFC 192 in October 2015. In other words, he had as many UFC appearances as he did USADA violations.
Instead of making his way up the heavyweight ranks, Magomedov will instead go down as the first fighter in UFC history to receive a lifetime sanction from USADA, and the first one to get three violations.
If Magomedov wants to continue his career, it won’t be in the UFC, so the next question is whether or not he’ll be released from his contract. From there, it’s all a matter of which parts of the world will actually sanction him to compete, and which promoter will sign him.