UFC bantamweight Zviad Lazishvili suspended 10 months for USADA violation

It will be a while before Zviad Lazishvili gets another shot at his first UFC win.

USADA announced Wednesday that Lazishvili has accepted a 10-month suspension from competition after testing positive for clomiphene, a banned substance that is prohibited year-round under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and UFC Prohibited List.

Lazishvili’s positive results came from an in-competition sample taken at UFC Vegas 41 on Oct. 23, 2021, as well as an out-of-competition test taken on Nov. 5, 2021. His period of ineligibility is retroactive to the date of his most recent fight, meaning he will be eligible to fight again on Aug. 23, 2022.

In his UFC debut, Lazishvili (13-1) lost a unanimous decision to Jonathan Martinez.

According to the USADA announcement, Lazishvili was able to prove that “his use of clomiphene occurred prior to entering the program,” however it was not properly declared.

The official statement reads as follows:

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.

The Nevada Athletic Commission is also expected to issue a ruling on Lazishvili’s drug test violation, though it is likely that any penalty will be concurrent with that of the USADA.

Clomiphene is listed as a hormone and metabolic modulator according to the UFC Prohibited List. It is the same banned substance that stars Brock Lesnar and Jon Jones tested positive for in relation to UFC 200 back in July 2016.