Bonnar (photo via UFC)

Dave Herman’s Suspension to be Shorter

By FCF Staff

The recently retired Stephan Bonnar has reportedly been suspended for one year by the Ultimate Fighting Championship, after testing positive for steroids following his stoppage loss to Anderson Silva on October 13th.

Bonnar announced he was retiring from the sport after the UFC 153 loss; however, if he did elect to fight again, he would not be eligible to do so until late October, 2013. The suspension was disclosed to MMA Fighting by the UFC’s VP of Regulatory Affairs, Marc Ratner.

According to a recent announcement from the UFC, Bonnar admitted to taking the anabolic steroid Drostanolone prior to the recent bout with Silva. The promotion conducted its own drug testing for UFC 153, due to the fact that the host city Rio de Janeiro had no athletic commission in place.

The suspension marks the second time Bonnar has been disciplined for steroid use, as following a bout with Forrest Griffin in 2006, he also failed a post-fight drug test.

Ratner is also reporting that Dave Herman will be suspended for testing positive for marijuana as expected, following his submission loss to “Minotauro” Nogueira at UFC 153. The heavyweight’s sentence, however, will not be as severe as Bonnar’s.

Ratner relayed that the promotion feels there is a “big difference” between PEDs and marijuana , and added that some sort of rehabilitation program for Herman could be involved.

Herman also tested positive for marijuana metabolites last October and was pulled from a UFC card as a result.