Muslim Salikhov Notified Of Potential USADA Violation

Two fight UFC veteran Muslim Salikhov has been notified of a potential drug test violation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

The following statement was issued by the UFC:

The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed athlete Muslim Salikhov of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on June 7, 2018 in Russia. 

USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Muslim Salikhov. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.

This is the first potential violation for Salikhov, so the fighter may be facing a one year suspension if USADA finds the failed test to be accurate.

Salikhov has fought twice thus far under the UFC banner, defeating Ricky Rainey at UFC On Fox 29 and suffering a defeat to Alex Garcia at UFC Fight Night Shanghai. Salikhov wasn’t scheduled for a fight at this time, so no future events should be affected at this time by his potential drug test failure.

There has been no comment yet from either Salikhov or a member of his team.