Recently retired heavyweight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has been suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) because of a potential doping violation.
Filipovic, 41, announced his retirement from mixed martial arts Tuesday, citing a shoulder injury and years of wear and tear. He was scheduled to fight Anthony Hamilton later this month at a UFC Fight Night event in Seoul, South Korea.
On Wednesday, the UFC stated Filipovic had been flagged for a potential violation of its anti-doping policy, which went into effect July 1. USADA acts as an independent administrator of the new program.
"USADA has notified both Mirko Cro Cop and UFC that he has been provisionally suspended at this time due to a potential anti-doping policy violation," the UFC stated. "USADA will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case."
Hamilton (14-4) is expected to be rebooked to fight in the near future, according to the promotion.
An iconic figure in both MMA and professional kickboxing, Filipovic (31-11) will become the first fighter to have failed a drug test under the UFC's new program, pending a successful appeal. Before this announcement, he had never failed a drug test.
In his retirement announcement early Tuesday morning, Filipovic admitted he attempted to overcome a recent shoulder injury with "daily therapy, injections of blood plasma and various cocktails of drugs."
Although he has retired, any suspension resulting from the USADA test would still apply should Filipovic want to return to the sport.
