Ivan Shtyrkov was scheduled to fight Devin Clark at UFC Fight Night St. Petersburg, but the bout was eventually canned because it would be revealed later that Shtyrkov had failed a drug test issued by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). The fighter has now been suspended two years by USADA for failing a pair of drug tests in March and April of this year.
USADA issued the following press release on the matter:
July 9, 2019
USADA announced today that Ivan Shtyrkov, of Kosulino, Russia, has accepted a two-year sanction for a violation of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy after testing positive for a prohibited substance.
Shtyrkov, 31, who was added to the UFC roster in the middle of March, had two out-of-competition urine samples collected on March 27, 2019 and April 3, 2019 reported as atypical shortly before he was scheduled to compete in a UFC bout. USADA notified the UFC of the laboratory’s initial atypical findings, and out of an abundance of caution, the UFC removed Shtyrkov from the card in which he was scheduled to compete. After conducting additional analysis, the laboratory reported both Shtyrkov’s samples as positive for boldenone and its metabolite 5β-androst-1-en-17β-ol-3-one. Confirmation of the positive tests was achieved using the sensitive isotope ratio mass spectrometry (GC/C/IRMS) method, which reported laboratory results consistent with the exogenous origin of boldenone and its metabolite. Boldenone is a non-Specified Substance in the class of Anabolic Agents and prohibited at all times under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, which has adopted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List.
Shtyrkov’s two-year period of ineligibility began on March 27, 2019, the date his positive sample was collected.
USADA conducts the year-round, independent anti-doping program for all UFC athletes. USADA is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental agency whose sole mission is to preserve the integrity of competition, inspire true sport, and protect the rights of clean athletes. In an effort to aid UFC athletes, as well as their support team members, in understanding the rules applicable to them, USADA provides comprehensive instruction on the UFC Anti-Doping Program website (https://UFC.USADA.org) regarding the testing process and prohibited substances, how to obtain permission to use a necessary medication, and the risks and dangers of taking supplements, as well as performance-enhancing and recreational drugs. If athletes choose to use supplements despite the known risks, USADA has always recommended that athletes use only dietary supplements that have been certified by a third-party program that tests for substances prohibited in sport. USADA currently recognizes NSF Certified for Sport as the program best suited for athletes to reduce the risk from supplements.
In addition, the agency manages a drug reference hotline, Drug Reference Online (https://UFC.GlobalDRO.com), conducts educational sessions, and proactively distributes a multitude of educational materials, such as the Prohibited List, easy-reference wallet cards, and periodic athlete alerts. Many of the resources available to athletes are provided in multiple languages, including Russian, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Korean, and Japanese.
Along with education and testing, robust anti-doping programs enable investigations stemming from tips and whistleblowers. USADA makes available a number of ways to report the abuse of performance-enhancing drugs in sport in an effort to protect clean athletes and promote clean competition. Any tip can be reported using the USADA Play Clean Tip Center, by email at playclean @usada.org, by phone at 1 877-Play Clean (1-877-752-9253), or by mail.
Shtyrkov has already signed with Rizin and faces Hoon Kim at Rizin 17 later this month, so the two year suspension may have little to no effect on the fighter’s future plans. Shtyrkov is eligible to compete stateside again on March 27 of 2021, since the suspension is retroactive to the date of the drug test failure.
