The United States Anti-Doping Agency has suspended former UFC champion TJ Dillashaw for two years for testing positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) before a flyweight title fight against Henry Cejudo on Jan. 19 in New York.
USADA officials announced the suspension, which Dillashaw did not contest, on Tuesday. The news comes less than one month after Dillashaw willingly relinquished his bantamweight championship, which the UFC almost certainly would have stripped him of based on Tuesday’s announcement.
The two-year suspension is the maximum sanction for a nonspecified substance under the UFC’s anti-doping program. It is dated retroactively to Jan. 18, 2019, the day the test was submitted. EPO is a peptide hormone used to stimulate red blood cell production. It is typically administered via intravenous injection.
Dillashaw is the second UFC fighter to test positive for EPO since the UFC and USADA partnered in 2015. Lightweight Gleison Tibau was also suspended for two years for EPO.
