Ian Heinisch’s fighting career has been put on hold.
On Thursday, the UFC middleweight announced that he’s taking an indefinite break from MMA and removing himself from the USADA testing pool in order to focus on his health, as he’s been experiencing a wide range of serious health issues.
“I’m making the decision right now to take a step back and get out of the USADA pool, do some peptides, and some other treatments and heal,” Heinisch said in a video post on Instagram. “That’s what I’m trying to do right now. Yeah, it’s tough, but it’s been a long journey and I have to do this. I can’t keep making my head worse. I know I can’t.”
Heinisch (14-5 MMA, 3-4 UFC), who was last seen in action in July 2021, has been experiencing issues with his health throughout his UFC career and they’ve been getting worse over time. It all started with skin issues that would turn into bigger and bigger problems.
“I started noticing some health issues that I didn’t really know where they came from,” Heinisch said. “I started having skin issues. The doctor said it was folliculitis, but it would turn into staph and sometimes MRSA. I got prescribed antibiotic, after antibiotic, after antibiotic. I know other fighters are going through this. I know it. Eventually my stomach was completely wrecked. I had blood in my stool for over a year.”
Heinisch blames the overuse of antibiotics for later causing him ulcerative colitis – which also caused him to be in an anemic state. He eventually was able to get his ulcerative colitis under control with help from his wife, who’s a nurse. However, around the same time, he also began having issues with high levels of prolactin and thyroid problems, which eventually was diagnosed as Hashimoto’s disease.
According to Mayo Clinic, Hashimoto’s disease is an autoimmune disorder that affects the thyroid gland. The disease causes the immune system to attack healthy tissues, which leads to a decline in hormone production.
But that’s not all for Heinisch. Numerous concussions and head trauma began catching up. He hit a breaking point following his last fight where he lost to Nassourdine Imavov by TKO.
“After my last loss, I came back to training about a month after, took a head kick, got dropped,” Heinisch said. “I didn’t get knocked out or nothing, but these side effects were terrible. I felt like I was walking on a boat. I felt like my brain was disconnected from my brain. The emotions that were running through me were so crazy. I thought my career was over.”
Heinisch, who lives in Florida, would seek stem cell treatment in Mexico while also taking a break from fighting. He saw improvement in his health and tried to resume training in Colorado, thinking he was back to normal, but he wasn’t.
“I tried so hard, man. I tried so hard,” Heinisch said. “I went back to Colorado and started training next to my recovery center. (I thought) it would be beneficial for me and it would maintain my training. First couple of weeks went really good. Third week, I got hit with a knee in sparring. For four days I would feel like if I would turn my head I would fall over. Equilibrium was off. It would mess with my emotions and my character and everything.
“So, I took a step back and came back to Florida. I said let’s give it one more week, one more shot. My mind has been playing tricks on me. I would feel good, and this voice would tell me, ‘Why are you not training, you have to fight.’ I would go back to training, get hit, and I would hate fighting, I would hate my life. All I would want to feel is normal.”
Heinisch promises a return to fighting and is optimistic he’ll get over these health issues. He’s unsure of a timeline for his return.
Heinisch has been fighting professionally since 2015 and has competed in 19 bouts, with seven of those being in the UFC. He started his UFC career in 2018 on a three-fight winning streak, but since has gone 1-4 in his past five fights.
