Islam Makhachev off UFC on FOX 19 vs. Dober due to potential failed drug test

Islam Makhachev

TAMPA, Fla. – Saturday’s UFC on FOX 19 card continues to be a little bit cursed.

Just three days after the co-main event between Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson was canceled when Machida admitted to using a banned substance pre-fight, another fight has been scrapped from the event during fight week.

The lightweight bout between Drew Dober (16-7 MMA, 2-3 UFC) and Islam Makhachev (12-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC), slated for the opening preliminary-card fight on FOX, is off due to a positive pre-fight drug test for Makhachev.

UFC officials made the announcement late Friday, several hours after the weigh-ins for the card. Makhachev has been given a provisional suspension by the UFC, according to the promotion’s official statement.

“The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) informed Islam Makhachev of a potential Anti-Doping Policy Violation involving Meldonium, a prohibited substance, stemming from a recent out-of-competition sample collection. In accordance with the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, Makhachev has received a provisional suspension, and has been removed from his scheduled bout against Drew Dober from Saturday’s card in Tampa,” the statement read.

“The UFC Anti-Doping Program follows the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List of Substances, which is updated yearly. Meldonium was recently added to the WADA Prohibited List, which went into effect on January 1, 2016. WADA recently announced that they are currently conducting further studies of the substance which may influence how cases involving Meldonium are evaluated. In order to ensure Makhachev receives full and fair due process, USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will consider all relevant information before making any determinations. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.”

Before learning he was removed from the card, Makhachev missed weight on his first try on the scale, coming in a half-pound heavy at 156.5 pounds. He returned less than an hour later and made his mark at 156.

Makhachev won his first 12 bouts, including a UFC-debut submission win over Leo Kuntz. However, in his most recent fight, the 24-year-old Dagestan-based fighter suffered a knockout loss to Adriano Martins. He is a teammate of Khabib Nurmagomedov, who fights Darrell Horcher on the main card.

Dober, meanwhile, was stuck in a 1-3 skid (with one no-contest due to a referee error), but in his most recent bout, the 27-year-old scored a decision victory over Scott Holtzman. But now he has to wait to put a winning streak together.

The removal of the fight leaves the four-bout preliminary card on FOX with just three matchups. A contest from the four-bout prelims on UFC Fight Pass will move up to FOX to take its place, but which fight that will be has not yet been made official.

The UFC on FOX 19 card now includes:

MAIN CARD (FOX, 8 p.m. ET)

• Rashad Evans vs. Glover Teixeira
• Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres
• Darrell Horcher vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov
• Hacran Dias vs. Cub Swanson

PRELIMINARY CARD (FOX, 6 p.m. ET)

• Michael Chiesa vs. Beneil Dariush
• Bethe Correia vs. Raquel Pennington
• Court McGee vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio

PRELIMINARY CARD (UFC Fight Pass, 4 p.m. ET)

• John Dodson vs. Manny Gamburyan
• Randy Brown vs. Michael Graves
• Oluwale Bamgbose vs. Cezar Ferreira
• Omari Akhmedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos

For more on UFC on FOX 19, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.