News broke Friday afternoon that UFC on FOX 19 fighter Islam Makhachev had been pulled from his UFC on FOX 19 fight with Drew Dober after it was discovered that he had Meldonium in his system.
The UFC issued a statement regarding the situation, which also revealed that Meldonium was only placed on the WADA banned substance list as of January 1st.
Now, Ariel Helwani has learned more details regarding the situation.
Makhachev had a heart procedure 13 mths ago, per his mgr @AliAbdelaziz00. He said that's why he meldonium was in his system. …
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 16, 2016
He's working with USADA & UFC on this. They say they have all the necessary paperwork to back this up and are confident all will end well.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 16, 2016
For now, though, Abdel-Aziz said Makhachev is absolutely devastated by today's news.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 16, 2016