Cro Cop Suspended by USADA

Earlier this week, Mirko Cro Cop announced his retirement from competition due to a shoulder injury in a moving post on his webpage, but that may not be the whole story.

“I tried to save a shoulder injury and repair in all possible ways: daily therapy, injections of blood plasma and various cocktails of drugs but didn’t work out,” the Croatian wrote. “The only cure would be a break of two to three weeks, and that I could not afford in the midst of final preparations. By daily trainings the injury gets worse. Part of the muscle is snapped, the shoulder is filled with a lot of fluids, and the great danger is that tendon ruptures and then go to operation again.”

Yet, on Wednesday, the UFC announced that the veteran MMA fighter “has been provisionally suspended due to a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation,” by USADA, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. At this point there are no details about the nature of the violation.

“Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time in the process,” says the UFC’s statement.

This marks the first time that USADA suspend a fighter since the introduction of the new UFC anti-doping program in July. As a consequence, the UFC has cancelled his bout against Anthony Hamilton (14-4), scheduled for the 28th of November, at UFC Fight Night Henderson vs. Alves in Seoul, South Korea. The UFC will book a new fight for Hamilton on a card in the near future.

Mirko Cro Cop (31-11-2, 1 NC), 41 years old, former PRIDE and K-1 grand prix champion is coming off a three-fight winning streak. His last appearance inside the Octagon was on the 11th of April, at UFC Fight Night 64 in Poland, when he defeated Gabriel Gonzaga via a third round TKO and avenged the 2007 loss in what was his UFC debut. That day in Krakow, he closed a circle and most likely his career.

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