Mirko "Cro Cop" (photo via IGF)

By FCF Staff

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has admitted that he took a banned substance, but the legendary fighter insists that injuries, and not his suspension, are why he’s elected to retire.

Earlier this week the heavyweight announced he’s decided to retire, as a result of a serious shoulder injury he’s incurred, leading up to a scheduled, November 21st fight with Anthony Hamilton. Not long after, however, the UFC confirmed that the 41 year-old has been suspended, as a result of a potential anti-doping violation.

“Cro Cop” has since responded to the news via his personal website, and in a lengthy statement, he admitted he recently took some growth hormone, with the hopes it would help his shoulder. Here is some of what Filipovic had to say:

When my shoulder problems started, basic methods like massages and icing the shoulder did not help. Then I went to blood plasma which went straight into my shoulder. With each blood plasma, I had a little mix of growth hormone to make my shoulder heal faster.

Growth hormones are on the list of banned substances. I knew that already. But there was no other way to save my shoulder–at least in my mind–without combining the blood plasma with growth hormones.

Unfortunately it turns out the only cure was a good break and rest. But a desperate man will try anything.
After 6 days of growth hormone and plasma injections, the USADA came to test me. I gave them my blood sample and urine samples and immediately told the UFC about the test. I also said that I had been taking blood plasma and growth hormone since nothing else was working.

I wanted to have this fight, at any cost. I knew if I didn’t have the fight after an 8 month layoff, it was the end for me. I could not afford to wait 5 or 6 more months to fight.

The test results are not even finished, and I’m not even sure if they are going to find anything because I used the treatment for a few days to recover my shoulder and fight, that’s it. Now they have given me some kind of suspension because I told them myself that I have been getting the treatment, and to top it all of I pulled out of the fight.

It is stupid to even mention that the hormone only heals the body and that the dosages can probably only be detected for a few (10) days. I would be perfectly clean until the fight.

It did not make me any better or increase my performance like testosterone or anabolic steroids would, but those are the rules. On Friday I was still telling them to not cancel the fight and that I wanted to fight because of all the hard work I had done.

I told them I will go to the USADA and tell them what is going on, and I was willing to get a lot of tests before and after the fight and everything would be OK.

I was tested 5 different times up to this point in the UFC, the last time after the Gonzaga fight, and each time the test results were clear.

Saturday training was the last one that I had with preparations in mind, which is when my shoulder “broke” its limit. The MRI showed on Monday that it was a ruptured muscle and damaged tendons, filled with liquid.
And that is when I broke and made my decision.

“Cro Cop” closed out his MMA career having posted a record of 31-11-2.