UFC Bantamweight Zviad Lazishvili Gets 10-Month USADA Sanction for Failed Drug Test

Zviad Lazishvili Accepts Sanction for Violation of UFC Anti-Doping Policy https://t.co/Lcv7AweQ4F

— USADA (@usantidoping) February 23, 2022

One-time Ultimate Fighting Championship competitor Zviad Lazishvili has been suspended 10 months by USADA for an anti-doping violation.

The UFC’s anti-doping partner announced the sanction Wednesday. The bantamweight tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolites in an in-competition sample related to his bout at UFC Fight Night 196 on Oct. 23 and on out-of-competition sample collected on Nov. 5.

Lazishvili was previously suspended nine months by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and was fined $1,800 — 15 percent of his fight purse. The Georgian fighter lost a unanimous decision to Jonathan Martinez at UFC Fight Night 196.

The full USADA statement regarding Lazishvili is as follows:

USADA announced today that Zviad Lazishvili, of Alexandria, Va., has accepted a 10-month sanction for a violation of the UFC® Anti-Doping Policy.

Lazishvili, 30, tested positive for clomiphene and its metabolites as the result of samples collected in-competition at UFC Fight Night on October 23, 2021, and out-of-competition on November 5, 2021. Clomiphene is a Specified Substance in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.

Upon being added to the UFC Anti-Doping Program, athletes are required to declare prohibited substances they have used in the previous 12 months, prior to being in USADA’s testing program. An athlete who makes such a declaration will not be deemed to have committed a violation but, depending on the substance, will be required to refrain from competition for a period of at least six months and provide at least two negative samples to ensure that they do not compete in a UFC bout with a performance advantage.

While Lazishvili provided sufficient evidence that his use of clomiphene occurred prior to entering the program, he did not declare clomiphene on his onboarding declaration form and therefore he faces a violation for the presence of the substance in his samples. Lazishvili received a reduction to the period of ineligibility for his Full and Complete Cooperation.

Lazishvili’s 10-month period of ineligibility began on October 23, 2021, the date his first positive sample was collected. Lazishvili’s positive test also falls under the jurisdiction of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which is resolving the case in accordance with its rules.