UFC Flyweight Ian McCall Granted TUE for IV Use, Cleared of Anti-Doping Violation

Ian McCall has been cleared of an anti-doping violation for receiving an intravenous infusion of a non-prohibited substance this past February, USADA announced Friday.

The UFC flyweight was granted a retroactive therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for the saline solution IV he received on Feb. 10 at the recommendation of his physician. McCall was supposed to face Jarred Brooks at UFC 208 in Brooklyn on Feb. 11 but was removed from the card after being transported to a local hospital with gastrointestinal issues.

According to the UFC’s Anti-Doping Policy, all IVs of more than 50mL per six-hour period are prohibited unless an athlete receives a TUE in advance or “if the infusion is legitimately received in the course of hospital admissions, surgical procedures, or clinical investigations.”

“After a thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding the potential violation, which included the retroactive TUE application process, USADA determined that the athlete had a diagnosed acute medical condition for which the use of an intravenous infusion is consistent with the standard of care,” the USADA statement read. “Because McCall’s TUE application was granted retroactively, his use of a prohibited method will not result in an anti-doping policy violation.”

McCall last competed at UFC 183 on Jan. 31, 2015, when he lost a unanimous decision to John Lineker. “Uncle Creepy’s” bad luck since then has been well documented. In addition to his UFC 208 withdrawal, McCall has pulled out of proposed bouts vs. Neil Seery (illness) and Dustin Ortiz (injury), while losing prospective foes Ray Borg at UFC 203 due to illness and Justin Scoggins to weight cut issues.