Dagestani Daddy Pack: Violations and History

Just a bunch of dudes being guys.

INTRODUCTION

With Islam Makhachev set to take on Jack Della Maddalena this weekend, which is moving up a weight class for Makahachev, I got to thinking about things. I had just returned from a squat session at the gym and was confronted with a moral dilemma. A canister of creatine was in front of me. Now I'm sure like most youth in the Western world like myself you the reader have probably had a lot of first hand experience with drug awareness classes of some sort. I'm sure you all know the dangers of creatine as a result. I fell to peer pressure needless to say and turned in my natty card this morning. Makhachev and myself are both now filthy creatine users.

Jokes aside, the subject of this article is performance enhancement in the UFC and specifically how it relates to Makhachev and current/former teammates of him. I'm simply presenting historical information to you about incidents and events that have taken place for you to do your own research and come to your own conclusions. This is just my presentation of commonly available and fair use media to paint a picture and timeline of events. I personally believe that doping in combat sports is an epidemic and you would be foolish to NOT leverage some sort of compound or substance to get an advantage. I will at some point write a separate article about my specific beliefs regarding doping and testing in combat sports later.

For now, we are smoking on that Shadow Garden Dagestani Daddy Pack. It is so purple it has me asking where Ronald at? So loud it stopped my pacemaker. Speaking of pacemaker, let's examine a very specific and to date only documented violation incurred by Makhachev related to USADA and a failure to adhere to their guidelines.

CLUTCHING CHEEKS AND CHESTS

Despite allegations from Dan Hooker of IV use to rehydrate after a brutal cut, Makhachev has only one documented run in with a violation of testing related to PEDS. In April of 2016 he was scheduled to face Drew Dober but the fight was cancelled after weigh ins due to Makhachev failing a drug screen for Meldonium. Meldonium is a prescription drug commonly available in Eastern Europe that is not FDA approved in the United States. It is primarily used for heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, etc. and also is approved in Eastern Europe for motor coordination problems, brain circulation issues, and dizziness/nausea. USADA who was still administering the anti doping tests and regulations etc. for the UFC was the agency that caught the violation. USADA does make exceptions for previously disclosed medications athletes are taking that could result in a positive drug screen. They call these exemptions "Therapeutic Use Exemptions". This is actually how USADA would rule in July 2016 that Makhachev was not at fault for a doping violation.

So why bring this up if USADA determined that this was not in essence "cheating" and not a knowing/willful violation of the anti- doping rules and regulations? Makhachev claimed he was indeed taking Meldonium from November 2015 for about four weeks at the recommendation of his doctor for a heart procedure he underwent in December 2014. He stated he stopped after four weeks and did not take the drug shortly before it was officially banned January 1st, 2016. Meldonium could potentially be detectable in an athlete for months according to the drug's maker but many factors play a role in this such as how long the drug was taken for, metabolism, sensitivity of testing thresholds etc.

TANTALIZING TIDBITS

So why is this interesting if USADA determined in 2016 that Makhachev was cleared of wrongdoing? Without turning this into a chemistry lesson, half-life, no not the videogame, is one interesting part of this Meldonium Mayhem. Half-life is how long it takes half of a substance to leave your body hence half-life. In 2016 this was accepted by anti-doping agencies to roughly be about 22-33 days after heavy and prolonged use. A later study in 2018 was commonly accepted to show Meldonium could in theory still be detectable for up to several months after last use. My question with this would be how did USADA know that the Meldonium use and amount detected was from November 2015 and not lets say February 2016? It would make sense to already taper or cycle off a PED about a month before weigh ins and increased almost guaranteed testing. Keep in mind USADA at this time was far more active in the U.S. and Western Europe than Dagestan. Contractors who are essentially government workers were collecting samples for many Brazilian, Russian, etc. athletes. To my knowledge, USADA can't accurately time stamp a sample and say conclusively this was from November 2015 and not 2016. They relied on Islam's testimony. I don't think they are also able to access research and findings from that 2018 study in 2016, or are they capable of time travel? X Files theme intensifies.

GRUNTS AND GOONS

Further complicating matters would be that Meldonium is very cheap and available over the counter in many former Soviet nations. USADA, WADA, your MAMA, etc. aren't in the business of banning substances that don't work. Their whole goal and purpose is to figure out what gives athletes an unfair advantage, how, and why then ban it precisely because it works. Meldonium was banned because it is described by those who studied it as a "potent" metabolic modulator. This is an ACT word for it improves cardiovascular output and energy by making glucose more readily available than fat for situations where oxygen is limited like exercise for example. It changes the way your hormones behave and manipulates your metabolism to better use energy sources and produce oxygen.

Heartthrobs and heart medicine go even better together with a little tennis. Five Star Goonerals recognize the name Maria Sharapova, probably with a few magazines with sticky pages to go along with this. She was a user of Meldonium admittedly for over a decade before it was banned. She conveniently didn't realize it was banned and accepted a 15 month suspension from competition as a result of her use. In fact, many former Soviet Bloc residents were found to be using Meldonium in 2016 after the ban took place. Many residents coincidentally enough performing at the highest levels of their respective sports in fact. Alexander Povetkin, a famous boxer who fought Klitschko and Anthony Joshua, was supposed to fight Deontay Wilder until he popped for Meldonium. The entire Russian Men's National Ice Hockey Team under 18 had to be replaced in 2016 for using Meldonium. In fact scrolling through all the different athletes in different sports who were using Meldonium was quite inspiring to me. To see so many athletes with heart issues compete at the highest level and have success made me think I too could get off the couch and do something. I thought about including a Sharapova picture down below but detest the idea of screens showing my work being painted by subpar artists.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

My last observation about this story would be the history of the Nurmagomedov clan/team and failed drug tests. Aside from Makhachev, there was also Ruslan Magomedov and Zubaira Tukhogov. Tukhogov most infamous for punching Conor McGregor at the historic UFC 229 brawl. The other most famous camp member with a failed drug test would be Usman Nurmagomedov. Four members of the same team all having a failed drug test is an interesting statistic you're free to interpret however you want. That's the beauty of data. Different people can look at the same data and come to different conclusions.

CONCLUSION

UFC 322 is probably one of the most compelling and interesting cards the UFC has had all year in my opinion. At the center of this is the main event between JDM and Makhachev. In an era of doing tricks on it and glazing that would make Krispy Kreme blush, I like to bring up forgotten information and facts in a what have you done for me lately sport with short memories. I intend to encourage discussion and debate with this and let you decide for yourself if Meldonium, other failed drug tests, etc. have a role in this fight. Maybe, maybe not but this is the most interesting thing in a stale organization and can make the question of who wins Saturday night that much more interesting. As always thank you for reading and your support.