Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Suspended by USADA for Potential Anti-Doping Policy Violation

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Mirko Filipovic may have had an ulterior motive for his recently announced retirement.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Wednesday released a statement announcing that the fighter popularly known as “Cro Cop” has been provisionally suspended by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a potential anti-doping policy violation.

As a result, the Las Vegas-based promotion confirmed that Filipovic’s scheduled bout against Anthony Hamilton at UFC Fight Night in Korea has been canceled. Hamilton will get a new opponent on an upcoming card, according to the statement.

“USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Cro Cop,” the statement read. “Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time in the process.”

Filipovic announced his retirement and withdrawal from UFC Fight Night on his website Tuesday, citing a shoulder injury that left him unable to raise his arm.

“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 it didn’t work out,” he 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.”

Filipovic last competed at UFC Fight Night in Krakow, Poland on April 11, where he avenged a previous loss to Gabriel Gonzaga with a third-round technical knockout victory.