UFC vice president Jeff Nowitzki called Islam Makhachev's failed doping test in 2016 the biggest mistake USADA made.
"Islam did have a problem back in 2016. I spoke to him and his team last week and I said: "I think we need to bring it up." And they agreed. In 2016, USADA, who ran our program, put it (meldonium) on our banned list. Before that, you were allowed to use it. He had a medical procedure back in 2014. He provided documentation that he used it in doing so. USADA eventually allowed him to use it. But in my opinion, this is one of the greatest, colossal mistakes in the fight against doping. It affected not only Islam, but several other UFC athletes and hundreds of other athletes. It's something that just can't happen. It's something you can keep with you and your reputation forever. I'm here today to say that Islam did absolutely nothing wrong. This mistake was made by the anti-doping body, not him. It's very important to point that out," Nowicki stated.
