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Things have been quite murky since Dan Hooker came out and accused Islam Makhachev of administering intravenous (IV) infusions after pre-UFC 284 weigh-ins.
On one hand, Makhachev and his team have been denying the allegations. On the other hand, his manager Ali Abdelaziz has been tweeting and deleting pretty incriminatory statements on the matter.
USADA is yet to make any comment on the subject.
In a statement on MMA Fighting, the chairperson of the Combat Sports Commission of Western Australia, Bob Kucera, said there was no "conclusive evidence" that any UFC 284 fighter had breached the policies.
Jeff Novitzky, the Senior Vice President of Athlete Health and Performance for the UFC, posted a thread on Twitter explaining the UFC's current stance on IV usage. Yesterday, he sat down with UFC play-by-play announcer Brendan Fitzgerald and cleared the air on the matter.
Novitzky addressed the Islam Makhachev IV controversy and cleared the Dagestani fighter's name based on the commission's report:
"I think the Australian commission put out a statement last night saying there's no credible evidence of him violating any of their rules. I think I'll leave it at that."
However, he also revealed that the Western Australian commission completely bans any quantity of IV infusions for fluid intake after weigh-ins:
"They have a specific rule that IVs are banned completely for rehydration purposes. So it wouldn't matter the volume, it wouldn't matter if there was a medical professional involved - Perth bans those IVs."
For context, Novitzky explained before this statement that the UFC and USADA made the IV ban slightly flexible in 2019 to allow out-of-action fighters to get IV infusions if they fall sick and suffer from dehydration. However, every fighter has to follow the specific rules of the state commission where the fight is taking place, which in Islam Makhachev's case, was Western Australia.
Watch the full video here:
Does Ali Abdelaziz's deleted tweet call for an investigation into the Islam Makhachev IV controversy?
In a now-deleted tweet, Islam Makhachev's manager Ali Abdelaziz claimed that fighters can take 2-3 liters of IV as long as it is done by a medical professional - a statement that does not align with the current rules put in place by the UFC.
During fight week, fighters are allowed to take 100ml or less quantity of IVs every 12-hour period, as long as it is done by a medical professional. They are also unanimously required to declare the same to the respective commission. However, Novitsky's latest comments make it clear that Makhachev was not allowed to take any amount of IV infusions under the rules of the Western Australian commission.
Veteran MMA journalist Ariel Helwani already stated that Abdelaziz's statements were incriminatory in nature, which is possibly why he deleted the tweet in the first place.
If Makhachev's manager had the wrong information on the permitted IV amount, did the rest of the team believe the same as well? Were they aware of the complete IV ban by the Combat Sports Commission of Western Australia?
Recent revelations by Novitzky raised further questions on the matter instead of clearing the air.
