Lilya Shakirova handed two-year suspension from USADA

UFC fans won’t be seeing Lilya Shakirova on their screens until 2022.

USADA announced on Monday that the UFC flyweight prospect had received a suspension for past usage of a banned substance.

“Shakirova, 29, tested positive for meldonium as the result of a sample collected out of competition on December 5, 2020 in her home country of Uzbekistan,” the statement read. “Meldonium is a non-Specified Substance in the category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators and it is prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy and the UFC Prohibited List.

“Upon being added to the UFC Anti-Doping Program, athletes are required to declare prohibited substances they have used in the previous 12 months. An athlete who makes such declaration will not be deemed to have committed a violation but, depending on the substance, may be required to refrain from competition for a period of at least six months and provide at least two negative samples. Shakirova did not declare the use of meldonium on her onboarding declaration forms.

“Shakirova’s two-year period of ineligibility began on December 5, 2020, the date her positive sample was collected.”

Uzbekistan’s Lilya Shakirova dropped to 8-2 in her professional career upon making her Octagon debut in October 2020. Stepping in to replace Cynthia Calvillo vs. Lauren Murphy at UFC 254, Shakirova suffered a second-round defeat via a rear-naked choke submission.