It’s a story that very few UFC fans are familiar with; Islam Makhachev once needed surgery to correct a heart condition, with his recovery inadvertently leading to him failing a USADA test.
With UFC 311 just around the corner, Bloody Elbow is searching back through the MMA archives for any insight into the life of dominant UFC lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev.
The Dagestani was once famously withdrawn from a UFC fight after failing an out-of-competition USADA test; but why did Makhachev pop hot, and why was he ultimately found to be ‘not at fault’ for the violation?
UFC champion Islam Makhachev describes his heart surgery procedure
Back in 2014, Islam Makhachev was competing in Combat Sambo and had just won the Russian National Championship when doctors identified that he was suffering from a heart condition.
“I started educating myself about the issue, and I found a very good doctor, he gave me advice,” said Makhachev during a 2020 interview on Russian YouTube channel ‘Hands Up’.
“He told me, ‘If you want to have a big career, if you want to perform for a long time, I can give you a small surgery’, and it was a cardiac ablation.”
It turned out that the future UFC champion was suffering from arrhythmia, a condition that causes someone’s heart to beat either too quickly, too slowly, or in an irregular pattern.
“My heart was beating almost normally but then had one more jump – like an extra beat,” explained Makhachev, with cardiac ablations thankfully being a minimally invasive procedure.
“They burned a small area of the heart that was causing it [and] after this small surgery, I haven’t had any arrhythmia problems.”
The news came just six days before Makhachev was set to fly out to Japan for the Combat Sambo World Championships, leaving him confused as to why the problem had only just been picked up.
“A week before the championship, I’m told that my heart isn’t well… The National Team staff could’ve told me about this earlier [as] after Russian Championship, they have me [do] a full medical check-up and found this issue.
“I didn’t make any scandal, not sure why they did this. Maybe someone benefitted from telling me just before a World Championship, so that I couldn’t do anything about it, but anyway, I was withdrawn.”
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Islam Makhachev explains how surgery resulted in USADA fail
Makhachev’s initial concerns were put at ease when his doctor explained how famed Russian biathlete Dmitry Malyshko had won Olympic Gold just six months after receiving the surgery.
However, that same doctor also prescribed Makhachev a course of Meldonium; a drug that, whilst beneficial to those in recovery for arrhythmia, is still under scrutiny for its performance-enhancing effects in the sporting world.
Unfortunately, it’s also one that can persist in the body for a rather long time; long enough to be picked up by USADA when Makhachev signed to fight Drew Dober in 2016.
“Then it turns out that Meldonium remains in the body for 6-7months, I wasn’t taking it regularly – just a tablet occasionally… It’s like a vitamin for the heart.
“It can be dangerous if an athlete tends to neglect their health problems [and] heart surgery is no joke… I weighed all the information and came to the conclusion that it might help”
Whilst Makhachev noted that it was unfortunate to be suspended – with USADA later finding that he was ‘not at fault ’ for the failed test – he also admitted that it would’ve hampered his UFC title aspirations, had he ignored the problem entirely.
“If I refused to have this surgery, I think arrhythmia would give me much more trouble now. I have thorough medical check-ups at UFC, I wouldn’t be able to hide it, and I’d get withdrawn.”
Makhachev’s mother was furious that he didn’t tell her about surgery
Given how Makhachev is a lifelong athlete, it’s understandable why he was concerned about both the arrhythmia and the treatment options available.
In fact, he was so concerned about the possible impact on his future career, that he “didn’t even tell anyone at home” that he was set to go under the knife.
“I told my friend, a brother, maybe 3-4 people at most and moved out to Moscow for the surgery.
“Later, when I got this Meldonium problem, I had a large array of documents, a stack of them, my whole medical history, check-up results. So, when I got caught with Meldonium in my tests, I called my brother at once – he left the whole stack on the table at home.”
Unfortunately, Makhachev’s mother was first to get to the medical records – and safe to say that she wasn’t best pleased that the future UFC legend had kept his surgery a secret.
“Mom found them and had an exciting read through that night, then she called me pretty mad – ‘You had a surgery and didn’t even tell anyone?!’ I tried to explain to her that it’s nothing, but you can’t explain that to parents.”
Will the hearts of his UFC fans be broken, or will Islam Makhachev continue to reign as the dominant king of the UFC lightweight division? Find out on January 18 when he takes on Arman Tsarukyan in the main event of UFC 311.
from Bloody Elbow https://ift.tt/gdhZNqb
