Some good news for UFC heavyweight Daniel Omielanczuk: USADA has announced that a positive drug test for Meldonium will not result in any punitive measures. The case, stemming from an incident over a year ago, will have a “no fault found” registered. Both the fighter and USADA accepted the finding.
Omielanczuk (19-6-1 1NC), a Polish native who debuted in the UFC back at UFC 165 in 2013, tested positive in January 2016 for the substance, which was added to the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) Prohibited List at the start of last year. However, an investigation showed that Omielanczuk used the substance for just a matter of weeks in 2015, prior to Meldonium being banned. By September of 2015 he had ceased using the substance, as its pending addition to the WADA Prohibited List was by then public knowledge.
In a press release on the matter, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency noted that
After a thorough review of the case, USADA concluded that the extremely low meldonium concentration in the athlete’s urine sample, combined with the available documentary evidence and the athlete’s explanation of use, was consistent with ingestion prior to the substance being officially prohibited on January 1, 2016. Accordingly, based on the results management guidance offered by WADA for cases involving meldonium, Omielanczuk will not face a period of ineligibility for his positive test.
Meldonium is the same substance that led to the ban of Maria Sharapova from pro tennis by the ITF last year. Classified as a metabolic modulator by WADA, its designation as a performance enhancing drug has been hotly contested. During the USADA investigation, Omielanczuk was allowed to continue competing and in fact fought three times for the UFC in 2016, compiling a 2-1 record.
