{"id":39364,"date":"2026-07-17T17:35:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:35:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Extitle-challenger-Volkan-Oezdemir-announces-failed-drug-test-for-EPO-201956"},"modified":"2026-07-17T17:35:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T17:35:26","slug":"ex-title-challenger-volkan-oezdemir-announces-failed-drug-test-for-epo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/ex-title-challenger-volkan-oezdemir-announces-failed-drug-test-for-epo\/","title":{"rendered":"Ex-title challenger Volkan Oezdemir announces failed drug test for EPO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n

A grand don’t come for free.<\/p>\n

Perennial Ultimate Fighting Championship<\/a> contender
\nVolkan
\nOezdemir<\/a> made a statement on Instagram<\/a>
\nFriday revealing the news of his failed drug test. He does so prior
\nto any statements from the organization or its anti-drug testing
\nwing of Combat Sports Anti-Doping. In February, he failed an
\nout-of-competition test for EPO. The Swiss athlete assumed full
\nresponsibility for his actions and explained in detail what took
\nplace in this unusual situation. The UFC and CSAD have yet to
\nprovide a public statement on the matter, but indicated to
\nMMA Junkie<\/a> that they worked alongside the World Anti-Doping
\nAgency to review this matter.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The former light heavyweight title challenger will be out of action
\nfor 16 months effective his failed testing date, with CSAD reducing
\nhis suspension from 18 months, two years or greater due to his
\nalleged complete cooperation in handling the case. In his
\nstatements, Oezdemir indicated that he was approached by someone in
\nthe healthcare industry offering to improve his condition, and he
\nunwittingly took banned substances.<\/p>\n

I cooperated immediately; I did the same with CSAD<\/h2>\n

Oezdemir\u2019s complete
\nstatement<\/a>, written both in his native French and English with
\nbolded portions for emphasis, was accompanied by a caption. In the
\nbrief caption, he wrote, \u201cI have an announcement to make, and it\u2019s
\na difficult one. I made a mistake, and I\u2019ll explain why in the hope
\nof helping other athletes.\u201d The 205er\u2019s statement reads as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cIn February, I tested positive for EPO after following the
\nrecommendations of a healthcare professional. As an elite athlete,
\nI am responsible for everything I put in my body.<\/strong>
\nI made a mistake, and I take full responsibility for it.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the end of 2025, I competed in Qatar. A few days later,
\nI was contacted on Instagram by a healthcare
\nprofessional<\/strong> based in Switzerland. He introduced himself
\nas a supporter and suggested that we meet. During our first
\nmeeting, he told me about his connections with influential people,
\ninvestment opportunities in one of the Gulf states, and potential
\nprospects for my career after retirement from the sport. He also
\nmentioned the possibility of patronage. I was 36 years old
\nand thinking about life after my sporting career,<\/strong> so I was
\ninterested.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was recovering from ankle surgery.<\/strong> The
\nhealthcare professional and I met again. The conversation
\nshifted.<\/strong> He no longer talked about business, but about my
\nrecovery. He presented me with a plan that, according to him, would
\nget me back to peak physical condition within two months. He showed
\nme a substance that he described as safe and undetectable. He had
\nprepared a vial of EPO. He told me not to tell anyone about it. I
\ncomplied. I gave myself the first injection that same evening. That
\nwas my decision. And it was the biggest mistake of my
\nlife.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThree days later, the Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD) team came
\nto my home to conduct an anti-doping test. On March 5, I
\nwas informed that my test had come back positive.<\/strong> In that
\nmoment, the illusion was shattered, and my reality changed. But in
\na way, it was also a relief.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to tell the UFC everything. I cooperated immediately. I
\ndid the same with CSAD. In the end, I received a 16-month
\nsuspension in light of my cooperation and the mitigating
\ncircumstances:<\/strong> a healthcare professional played a
\nsignificant role; he initially approached me under the pretense of
\ndiscussing business; he had prepared the substances himself and
\nprovided them to me free of charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy independence has always been one of my strengths. I left home
\nat a young age to live abroad. I built my career far from my
\nfamily. I moved country to country to pursue my sport. I got used
\nto dealing with problems on my own. But this time, it
\nbecame a weakness.<\/strong> Today, I want to say to every
\nathlete\u2014especially those competing in individual sports\u2014that
\nisolation is a risk.<\/p>\n

\u201cI acknowledge what I did, and I take full responsibility for it.
\nEvery athlete is responsible for what they put into their body. I
\nam sharing how this happened because I needed to understand my own
\nactions. And because what happened to me could happen to other
\nathletes. I let down my sport, my fans, and ultimately,
\nmyself.<\/strong> To everyone who has supported me\u2014my family, my
\nloved ones, and my supporters\u2014I am deeply sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
<\/blockquote>\n

<\/center> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A grand don’t come for free. Perennial Ultimate Fighting Championship contender Volkan Oezdemir made a statement on Instagram Friday revealing the news of his failed drug test. He does so prior to any statements from the organization or its anti-drug testing wing of Combat Sports Anti-Doping. In February, he failed an out-of-competition test for EPO. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39365,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}