The list of prohibited performance-enhancing drugs continues to evolve. Meldonium was added to the prohibited list on Jan 1, 2016 but questions have arisen about its efficacy, and how long it stays in the system.

Both Islam Makhachev and Abdul-Kerim Edilov tested positive for Meldonium, and were pulled from fights. Makhachev was determined to have no fault or negligence. However, Kerim Edilov was suspended for 15 months, because he took it after January 1, 2016 and did not have a therapeutic use exemption. Now the UFC has announced that Daniel Omielanczuk will face no sanction after a positive test last year, as it was determined he did not take meldonium after the date it was prohibited.

Daniel Omielanczuk, of Warsaw, Poland, has tested positive for a prohibited substance, which was determined to have been ingested by him without fault or negligence in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) guidance concerning meldonium.

Omielanczuk, 34, tested positive for meldonium as the result of an out-of-competition urine sample he provided on January 21, 2016. Meldonium is a non-specified substance that was added to the WADA Prohibited List in 2016. It is in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the WADA Prohibited List.

During USADA’s investigation of the case, Omielanczuk presented evidence establishing that his use of meldonium was limited to a three-week span, from mid-August to early September 2015. Omielanczuk and his advisors confirmed that Omielanczuk did not resume his use of the substance after September 2015 because they became aware that the substance would be added to the WADA Prohibited List in 2016, and subsequently banned under the UFC Anti-Doping Program.

After a thorough review of the case, USADA concluded that the extremely low meldonium concentration in the athlete’s urine sample, combined with the available documentary evidence and the athlete’s explanation of use, was consistent with ingestion prior to the substance being officially prohibited on January 1, 2016. Accordingly, based on the results management guidance offered by WADA for cases involving meldonium, Omielanczuk will not face a period of ineligibility for his positive test.