Nate Diaz Has Been Cleared By USADA And Will Face Jorge Masvidal Saturday At UFC 244

By Dana Becker

Nothing but a few days and making weight stand between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal squaring off at UFC 244 for the "BMF" title. The two are set for Saturday's main event live on pay-per-view from Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Diaz sent a bit of a panic across the MMA world when he claimed to be out of the bout due to a failed drug test. The USADA, however, has exonerated Diaz of any potential wrongdoing after adverse findings were found in a pre-fight drug test.

On social media, Diaz denied taking anything illegally, saying that there was an issue with the testing procedure and that he was clear. However, he planned on not competing in protest of the test results. The UFC released a statement in which they explained what happened.

"On Oct. 24, 2019, Nate Diaz released a public statement regarding a recent out-of-competition test conducted by USADA," UFC officials wrote in a statement. "UFC has been notified by USADA that the out-of-competition test concluded that LGD-4033 was present in Mr. Diaz's sample at an amount below the decision concentration level for this substance. USADA is reviewing the out-of-competition test as an atypical finding. Further laboratory testing conducted by the Sports Medicine Research and and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL), a WADA-accredited lab in Salt Lake City, Utah, has confirmed that two bottles of the same organic, vegan, plant-based daily multivitamins that Mr. Diaz was using were each contaminated with LGD-4033, which evidence supports resulted in Mr. Diaz's positive sample.

"Mr. Diaz has not committed an anti-doping policy violation, has not been provisionally suspended and is not subject to any sanctions. Additionally, UFC has been informed by independent experts who have determined that there is unequivocally no appreciable performance enhancing or therapeutic benefit from the significantly limited amount of LGD-4033 that may be present in his system, which is roughly 10,000 times lower than one LGD-4033 therapeutic dose."

UFC president Dana White posted on social media that "The fight is ON!!! I 100% knew Nate wasn't taking anything to cheat."

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