USADA: Khalid Murtazaliev Suspended Two Years Following Positive Drug Tests

After allegedly failing multiple out-of-competition drug tests, Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight Khalid Murtazaliev has been issued a two-year suspension dating back to Oct. 3.

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) announced Friday that based on two failed drug tests, Murtazaliev has accepted a two-year suspension, which will end in October 2020. The Dagestani fighter failed tests on Oct. 3 and Dec. 6 of last year by testing positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone both times.

Due to the proximity of the tests and the levels consistent in both tests, USADA has elected to treat them as one violation, stating: "Murtazaliev’s two samples under the rules are treated as a single, first violation because the amount of drostanolone and its metabolite detected in both samples is consistent with administration via injection prior to the first sample collected on October 3, 2018."

Murtazaliev made his successful UFC debut at UFC Fight Night 136, where he viciously stopped C.B. Dollaway in a bout that many believed should have ended much sooner. As the test failures occurred several weeks after that event, the result will not be altered.

Some previous fighters to have reportedly tested positive for this substance include: Anderson Silva after UFC 183 in 2015, Brian Ortega after UFC on Fox 12 in 2014 and Kevin Casey after UFC 175 earlier that year.