USADA announced today that Liliya Shakirova, of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, has accepted a two-year sanction for a violation of the UFC^® Anti-Doping Policy. Shakirova, 29, tested positive for meldonium as the result of a sample collected out of competition on December 5, 2020 in her home country of Uzbekistan. Meldonium is a non-Specified Substance in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and it is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and the 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. An athlete who makes such declaration will not be deemed to have committed a violation but, depending on the substance, may be required to refrain from competition for a period of at least six months and provide at least two negative samples.

Shakirova did not declare the use of meldonium on her onboarding declaration forms. Shakirova’s two-year period of ineligibility began on December 5, 2020, the date her positive sample was collected.

• This media release was published by the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) and the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on 30 August 2021. Click here for the original.