UFC heavyweight Dmitrii Smoliakov has been exiled two years by USADA after testing positive for a pair of banned substances.
Russian heavyweight Dmitrii Smoliakov (or Dmitry Smolyakov), a.k.a. ‘The Lifeguard,’ has entered troubled waters. On Tuesday, USADA (the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency) announced that the fighter, who was brought back to the UFC essentially as cannon fodder for Greg Hardy, had been hit with a two-year sanction dating back to an out-of-competition drug test taken roughly a week before his last fight.
He also failed his in-competition drug test that night. The fight was a TKO loss to Hardy, who made short work of the returning Smoliakov at UFC Fort Lauderdale.
The 37-year old “tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO) and intact human chorionic gonadtrophin (hCG) as the result of urine samples he provided out-of-competition on April 22, 2019 and in-competition on April 27, 2019,” USADA’s press release on Tuesday read. rHuEPO, the agency added, “is a synthetic hormone used to stimulate the body’s production of red blood cells, thereby increasing oxygen transport and aerobic power.” It is prohibited from use at all times under the UFC’s anti-doping policy. hCG, for males, is also prohibited at all times.
Smoliakov (9-3) lost all three of his fights in the UFC, and is 1-3 in his last four. The lone win came outside the promotion, between his first and second stints. His two-year suspension is backdated to April 22, 2019 (the date of his first positive test), so you won’t be seeing him until April 2021 at the earliest.
