Sources close to the situation have confirmed that ONE Championship heavyweight MMA contender Ben Tynan is serving a 12-month ban for a positive drugs test.
The Canadian tested positive for multiple banned substances after his last appearance against Duke Didier in April, which is why he has not competed since then.
He was suspended from competition for a year and is eligible to return in April 2025 at the earliest, the Bangkok Post understands.
The bout result from ONE Fight Night 21 – a first-round TKO for the 30-year-old – has been changed to a No Contest.
“Vanilla Thunder” was booked to compete in a quick furnaround against Mauro Cerilli in June at ONE 167, but the fight was later scrapped from the card at Bangkok’s Impact Arena.
Tynan debuted in ONE in November 2023, defeating South Korea’s Kang Ji Won by third-round submission.
He then returned to finish Australia’s Dider at Lumpinee Stadium five months later, and called for a shot at then-heavyweight champion Anatoly Malykhin.
In August 2022, ONE enlisted a new drug testing partner, International Doping Tests & Management – a subsidiary of Drug Free Sport International – to “independently handle all testing for illegal substances”.
Several high-profile athletes have since failed in- and out-of-competition tests, including former bantamweight kickboxing champion Petchtanong Petchfergus, who was stripped of his title and suspended for 12 months in June 2023.
British Muay Thai standout Ellis Barboza was also suspended for six months with his debut win – a knockout of Thailand’s Thongpoon PK Saenchai – overturned to a No Contest in December 2023.
