Azamat Murzakanov Receives 6-Month Sanction for Anti-Doping Violation

UFC light heavyweight Azamat Murzakanov has accepted a six-month suspension for an anti-doping violation that occurred earlier this year.

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) announced Monday that Murzakanov tested positive for the “low-level presence” of a metabolite of LGD 4033 — a banned anabolic agent — in an out-of-competition sample collected on Oct. 8. It was determined by the Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) that the failed test resulted from a contaminated supplement, and that the amount of LGD 4033 metaboite contained in Murzakanov’s sample would not “provide any significant performance advantage.”

While such a result would have normally resulted in a 90-day sanction for Murzakanov, he received a 180-day term because it is his second anti-doping violation with the UFC. The 35-year-old Russian’s suspension is retroactive to Nov. 1, which means he will be eligible to return to active competition on May 1, 2025. Murzakanov was supposed to face Nikita Krylov at UFC 309 on Nov. 16 before the anti-doping violation resulted in the bout being pulled from the card.

Murzakanov previously tested positive for a steroid metabolite in an out-of-competition sample in 2017 prior to his UFC debut. That resulted in a two-year suspension from USADA, the promotion’s former anti-doping partner. Murzakanov ultimately wouldn’t make his first Octagon foray until March 2022 after earning a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series.

“The Professional” is 14-0 over the course of an MMA tenure that began in 2010. His 4-0 promotional mark includes triumphs over Alonzo Menifield, Dustin Jacoby, Devin Clark and Tafon Nchukwi.

The full statement from CSAD is as follows:

Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) announced today that Azamat Murzakanov, of Nalchik, Russia, has accepted a 180-day sanction for a violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy (UFC ADP).

Murzakanov tested positive for the low-level presence of a metabolite of LGD 4033, a prohibited at all times substance in the class of anabolic agents on the UFC Prohibited List, from an out of competition sample collected from him on October 8, 2024. A sealed bottle of a purported dietary supplement that Murzakanov used leading up to this sample provision was procured and sent to the UFC ADP’s testing laboratory, Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), in Salt Lake City, Utah, for analysis. The analysis found a low-level presence of LGD-4033 in the sealed supplement, despite not being listed on its labeled ingredients. SMRTL advised CSAD that the low level of LGD-4033 contaminant in the sealed supplement, as well as the low level of LGD-4033 metabolite in Murzakanov’s sample, would not provide any significant performance advantage. Additionally, a follow up sample that was collected from Murzakanov on October 31, 2024, before he was notified of the adverse October 8, 2024 sample, was negative. This supported Murzakanov’s timeline about when he took and discontinued taking the contaminated supplement in question.

CSAD determined that an appropriate sanction for Murzakanov adverse finding is a 90-day period of ineligibility. Despite the source of the adverse finding coming from a dietary supplement that listed no prohibited substances on its label, the supplement was not 3rd party tested and certified like all UFC athletes are educated to exclusively use. Because Murzakanov served a previous suspension under the UFC-ADP in 2019, this was Murzakanov’s second violation under the program and his sanction was therefore doubled to 180-days. Murzakanov’s suspension began on November 1, 2024, the day he was notified of this adverse finding in writing by CSAD and placed on a provisional suspension. Murzakanov’s suspension will expire 180-days later, on May 1, 2025.