Before even getting to make his full UFC debut, Ukrainian prospect, Danylo Voievodkin has been suspended from action.
At the end of last year, the UFC wrapped up another season of Dana White’s Contender Series with another bunch of prospects earning contracts into the premier promotion.
DWCS has become the main pathway for the promotion to sign fighters and stars like Mauricio Ruffy and Carlos Prates came through the series, with Ruffy continuing to show his potential.
Despite that, the most recent prospect to come from DWCS has had his career cut short before even getting to make his debut in the UFC.
Danylo Voievodkin cut from the UFC after failing drug test
Last September, 24-year-old Ukrainian prospect, Danylo Voievodkin submitted Bailey Schoenfelder in the first round of his DWCS fight, earning a UFC contract after impressing Dana White.
However, since then, the promotion has released a statement regarding Voievodkin, revealing that the 24-year-old has been banned from competition for 24 months after testing positive for Meldonium.
“The evidence, in this case, reflected that sometime after Voievodkin competed in his Dana White’s Contender Series event in September 2024, where he was awarded a UFC contract, he used Meldonium after he was onboarded into the UFC’s Anti-Doping Program’s Registered Testing Pool,” an official statement read.
The young prospect was touted to make waves in the UFC heavyweight division after finishing all seven of his professional fights by first-round submission.
Young prospect breaks his silence following UFC removal
Unfortunately for the 24-year-old, he will now be faced with the task of trying to rebuild his career with his name now being tainted.
However, the Ukrainian did take to his social media to break his silence on the failed drug test and subsequent removal, claiming that he was given no advice from his management throughout the situation.
“Many questions about this, I will say the test was taken a month and a half later was negative, meldonium is taken for almost a year. They offered me to confess and then they would cut it in half for a year, I stood my ground. But my management did nothing in this situation,” he claimed on his Instagram story.