Two weeks after a post on social media attributed Ivan Shtyrkov’s canceled UFC bout to a positive drug test, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has confirmed a two-year suspension for the light heavyweight.
USADA on Tuesday announced that Shtyrkov (15-0-1), who subsequently signed with Rizin FF, has accepted a two-year suspension for a prohibited substance.
USADA’s press release stated Shtyrkov, 31, was subject to the UFC anti-doping program when he was added to the roster in mid-March. Shtyrkov had been slated to fight against Devin Clark at UFC on ESPN+ 7 as a replacement for Abdul-Kerim Edilov, who was scratched from the card for unknown reasons.
MMA Junkie reported Shtyrkov had been hospitalized and forced to withdraw from his bout against Clark. But the USADA said the Russian was removed by the UFC “out of an abundance of caution” after USADA notified the promotion that a pair of out-of-competition urine samples had returned an “atypical” result.
USADA later confirmed the samples – collected March 27 and April 3 – contained the banned steroid boldenone and its metabolite 5β-androst-1-en-17β-ol-3-one. Boldenone is a non-specified substance in the class of anabolic agents that’s prohibited year-round and carries a two-year suspension for first-time offenders.
Shtyrkov’s suspension is retroactive to March 27, the date his positive sample was collected.
An Instagram post attributed to Shtyrkov’s camp said a drug test revealed “pictogram for gaining muscle mass” and “showed insignificant residues of one of the prohibited substances for weight gain. It is worth noting that after this Ivan had two more tests.”
The post added, “A fighter is penalized for all the drugs that the fighter took during the year before signing the UFC [sic]. Therefore, Ivan didn’t wait for the decision of the disciplinary commission and asked to release him from the contract in order to look for options to continue his career in other organizations.”
The undefeated Shtyrkov, nicknamed “The Ural Hulk,” is scheduled to fight Hoon Kim on July 28 at Rizin FF 17, which takes place at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The promotion has no known anti-doping program.
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