Oezdemir admits EPO failure after being misled by healthcare professional into taking banned substance

Volkan Oezdemir has become the first to disclose his own doping violation, posting a detailed statement on Instagram on Friday before the UFC or its anti-doping partner CSAD had issued any public comment. The Swiss light heavyweight tested positive for EPO during an out-of-competition test in February and will serve a 16-month suspension backdated to the failed test date.

CSAD reduced the ban from a potential 18 months or more, citing Oezdemir’s full cooperation throughout the review process, which was conducted in conjunction with the World Anti-Doping Agency. The UFC and CSAD confirmed to MMA Junkie that they had worked alongside WADA on the matter but had not released a formal statement of their own at the time of Oezdemir’s post.

In his statement, written in both French and English, the 36-year-old described a sequence of events that began after he competed in Qatar at the end of 2025. Days later, he said he was contacted on Instagram by a Switzerland-based healthcare professional who claimed to be a supporter. Their initial meeting covered business opportunities and post-retirement prospects, but a subsequent encounter took a different turn.

“The conversation shifted,” Oezdemir wrote. “He no longer talked about business, but about my recovery.” The individual, who Oezdemir said was recovering from ankle surgery at the time, presented a plan he claimed would return the fighter to peak condition within two months. The professional produced a vial of EPO, described it as “safe and undetectable,” and instructed Oezdemir to keep it secret. Oezdemir administered the first injection himself that same evening.

Three days later, a CSAD team arrived at his home for a routine anti-doping test. He was informed of the positive result on 5 March.

“As an elite athlete, I am responsible for everything I put in my body,” Oezdemir wrote. “I made a mistake, and I take full responsibility for it.”

He added that he chose to go public in the hope of warning other athletes about similar approaches. “I made a mistake, and I’ll explain why in the hope of helping other athletes,” he wrote in the caption accompanying his full statement.

Oezdemir challenged for the UFC light heavyweight title in 2018, losing to Daniel Cormier. He has remained a fixture in the division since, and the 16-month ban will keep him sidelined well into 2026.