After a one-year doping suspension that Elizeu Zaleski considers “unfair,” he is finally returning to the UFC octagon on Saturday to face Abubakar Nurmagomedov, and he is determined to let out all his pent-up frustration on the Russian fighter. Zaleski was preparing to battle Mounir Lazzez in April 2022 when he was caught by an out-of-competition drug test administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). He was caught having taken Ostarine, a banned selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM) that is prone to tainting in some supplements.

However, the Brazilian fighter claims it was from a contaminated supplement. Sadly, the compound pharmacy refused to admit their culpability. “They would never admit their mistake, of course, and that has made things worse with USADA. But it was proven that it was contamination, yes. We did all the tests, but life goes on. I was hit with a huge loss, but we’re back in the game again,” Zaleski said.

After his forced year-long break from fighting, Zaleski spent quality time with his family. However, being unable to comply with his contractual obligations in the UFC caused financial strain. “What keeps you (able to make ends meet) are the sponsors,” he explained. “I pretty much lost all the money I had invested in my camp (for Lazzez). I spent a lot of money.”

While he thought of suing the compound pharmacy, Zaleski couldn’t afford the legal fees. “It would be like a snowball getting bigger and bigger, and I would be dragging in debt more and more. God knows what happened, and my conscience is clear. I proved it was contamination, so let justice be made in any other way. Someone will pay for it somehow.”

Zaleski is eager to take his frustration out on Nurmagomedov inside the octagon. “His game is [engineered], step-by-step, towards using his grappling,” the Brazilian fighter said of the 33-year-old Russian, who has won two of his three UFC fights thus far. “He’s no fool on the feet with his kickboxing, he does well there, but does it to get to where he wants, which is taking us to the grappling area.”