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The UFC has been around since the late '90s. Throughout the years, the promotion has experienced several shifts in the MMA meta. During its early days, Brazilian jiu-jitsu was the most dominant martial art, before the emergence of ground-and-pound led to a surge in wrestling talent.
Various techniques and fighting styles achieved prominence. Today, however, the UFC's most dominant fighters typically hail from one part of the world: Dagestan, Russia. The rise of undefeated lightweight legend Khabib Nurmagomedov has led to massive interest in fighters from that region.
That interest has only increased since his protege Islam Makhachev captured the lightweight crown. Unfortunately, due to their aggregate success, suspicions from other fighters arose. Whether their rivals accuse them of unfair and dishonest practices or outright cheating, this list covers five such instances.
#5. UFC lightweight Bobby Green accuses Islam Makhachev of PED usage
Islam Makhachev is a fighter with great functional strength. The Dagestani phenom owes his physicality to all the training that optimized his muscle tissue and nervous system for wrestling and grappling. This grappling-based strength is what enabled him to capture the UFC lightweight title.
The merits of his accomplishments, however, have been undercut by former opponent Bobby Green. 'King' suffered a lopsided submission loss to the reigning 155 lbs champion. But it was the strength, not the skill level, of Makhachev that surprised him the most.
It surprised him so much that Green suspects something else at play. He claimed that the vitamins Makhachev used to take back in Russia were steroids. He speculated that Makhachev has been a PED user since his preteen years to explain away his strength.
#4. UFC bantamweight Sean O'Malley parrots Bobby Green's accusation
Sean O'Malley rarely fields his negative opinions on fighters who aren't relevant to his trajectory in the UFC bantamweight division. But during an episode of his TimboSugarShow podcast, 'Sugar' offered his take on Bobby Green's speculation that Islam Makhachev is a possible steroid user.
O'Malley stated that Makhachev surely knew what kind of supplements he was given during the early stages of his combat sports career in Russia. He punctuated his thinly veiled accusations by reasoning, much like Bobby Green, that's why the reigning lightweight kingpin is so strong.
'Sugar's' coach, Tim Welch, expressed his lack of surprise and cited the Russian ban from the Olympics as his reason.
#3. City Kickboxing head coach Eugene Bareman accuses Islam Makhachev of dishonesty surrounding his alleged IV use
It's rare for a coach to engage with the shenanigans that often embroil the fighters they train and their rivals. Eugene Bareman, however, is cut from a different cloth. He often offers his opinions on situations involving the fighters who train at City Kickboxing.
Thus, after Dan Hooker set the MMA world aflame by accusing Islam Makhachev of illegally using an IV for post-weight cut rehydration, it was only a matter of time before his head coach followed suit. Eugene Bareman made an appearance on Ariel Helwani's The MMA Hour show.
Bareman wasn't dismissive of Hooker's accusation. Instead, he was more measured while still expressing his suspicions that the lightweight kingpin engaged in some sort of pre-fight rule-bending. He refused to outright label Makhachev a cheater but claimed that something was underfoot.
#2. UFC lightweight Conor McGregor makes a thinly-veiled PED accusation about Khabib Nurmagomedov
Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov do not like each other. The two men have one of the most heated rivalries in UFC history. The pair locked horns for the first and last time at UFC 229. The Irishman suffered a stinging submission loss against 'The Eagle'. It was a loss that 'The Notorious' never let go of.
In 2019, former heavyweight Ruslan Magomedov was the recipient of a lifetime USADA ban due to three drug policy violations. Similarly, Zubaira Tukhugov received a two-year ban in 2018 for drug policy violations of his own. After the former heavyweight's ban, Conor McGregor took to Twitter.
He uploaded a picture of the two men standing alongside Khabib Nurmagomedov before explicitly saying that two out of the three Dagestanis tested positive for PEDs. By including 'The Eagle' in the post, he implied that he simply hasn't been caught yet.
#1. UFC lightweight Dan Hooker labels Islam Makhachev a cheater
Dan Hooker is a past opponent of Islam Makhachev. The New Zealander was a short-notice replacement at the time. Thus, he suffered a lopsided submission loss in the first round at UFC 267. While there was no apparent ill will between 'The Hangman' and the Dagestani phenom, things have since changed.
After Alexander Volkanovski failed to dethrone the lightweight king at UFC 284, 'The Hangman' took to Twitter, where he made a damning accusation. He made the unsubstantiated claim that Islam Makhachev had hired a nurse to assist him in illegally using an IV to rehydrate after a brutal weight cut.
He punctuated his statement by outright branding Makhachev a cheater. He challenged everyone to prove him wrong before saying little else.
