PFL heavyweight Blagoy Ivanov was handed a 22-month suspension by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) this week, preventing him from competing in the promotion until early 2026.
USADA announced Wednesday that an out-of-competition test on Ivanov from March found an anabolic agent in his system, violating the promotion’s anti-doping policy.
While the usual suspension would last two years in total, Ivanov was given a slight reduction due to his cooperation with USADA’s drug testing investigation. No further information about the violation was provided in a press release by the agency.
Ivanov, 37, lost his PFL debut in April, dropping a decision to Sergey Bilostenniy as part of a heavyweight regular season fight. The fight was his first appearance since his eight-fight UFC run came to an end last year.
Ivanov was also booked to meet Oleg Popov in June but withdrew from the bout in the weeks leading up to the event.
The suspension will keep Ivanov out of action until January 28th, 2026, meaning he will entirely miss next year’s PFL season if he remains on the promotion’s roster.
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