THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Heavyweight Alistair Overeem’s failed drug test showed a 14-1 testosterone-epitestosterone ratio, according to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Most people are a ratio of 1-1 although the commission allows for a ratio of 6-1. The World Anti-Doping Agency allows a 4-1 ratio.
"An elevated T/E may be an indicator of the use of a prohibited substance," WADA says in its March 2006 document titled "Reporting and Management of Elevated T/ Ratios."
The six-foot-five, 263-pound Overeem was slated to take on champion Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146 on May 26 in Las Vegas.
The random test that he failed was conducted around a March 27 news conference in Las Vegas. Dos Santos and fellow heavyweights Frank Mir, Cain Velasquez, Roy (Big Country) Nelson and Antonio (Bigfoot) Silva all passed their tests.
Since Overeem is currently without a license to fight — his last one expired at the end of 2011 — he will have to appear before the Nevada commission to get a new one. That means explaining the failed drug test.
A spokesman for Overeem said Thursday that the Dutch fighter had no comment.
Overeem, a former Strikeforce champion with a 36-11-1 record, made his UFC debut Dec. 30 at UFC 141 when he knocked out Brock Lesnar in the first round for the right to meet Dos Santos.
Typically, fighters’ licenses expire at the end of the calendar year. They then have to apply for a new one, with updated medicals and drug tests.
In Montreal, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre said he wanted to see more random drug testing in MMA.
"Before you didn’t have a lot of money involved in mixed martial arts, but now it’s become very popular," he told reporters.
"And the more money there is involved in a sport, the more things like that will happen because people want the money, they want to be number one, they want to do everything to achieve their goal, but I think they should do more random tests and we’ll see in the future what’s going to happen."
Comprehensive testing would also help keep the sport fair, he argued.
"It should be the most strict tests possible because as an athlete we don’t want to fight someone who has an advantage," he added in French. "We don’t want someone who is cheating because I’m working hard to be what I am and I want it to be a fair fight and I hope my adversary works hard and that the best one wins."
