Sherdog’s Top 10: PED Busts

Alistair Overeem’s test cost him a title shot at UFC 146. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

9. Alistair Overeem
UFC 146 “Dos Santos vs. Mir”
When the UFC finally acquired monstrous K-1, Dream and Strikeforce champion Overeem, expectations were high. He held concurrent titles in two different combat sports and had mostly run through the opposition he had faced over the preceding several years without much of a hint of trouble, aside from a lackluster decision win against future interim UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum.

Overeem’s debut in the UFC, a first-round shellacking of former champion Brock Lesnar, did nothing to contradict the idea that the enormously muscular Dutchman would be a force to be reckoned with in the world’s biggest promotion. Things had gotten a bit squirrely with Overeem’s pre-fight drug testing prior to his debut at UFC 141 -- he was granted a provisional license and had to meet certain stipulations -- but there was nothing too far beyond the pale, and he was duly scheduled to face reigning champion Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 in May 2012.

All of that changed when Overeem attempted to flee from a random drug test that was to be administered at the annual MMA awards show in Las Vegas. The commission officials eventually tracked him down, and his sample came back with a 14:1 ratio of testosterone-to-epitestosterone -- a ratio that almost always indicates the use of an anabolic steroid. This is because the use of artificial testosterone shuts down the body’s natural production of both testosterone and epitestosterone, which normally occur in equal measure, and the artificial substance replenishes only testosterone.

The results confirmed what many had long alleged: Nobody could put on the kind of muscle Overeem had during his time competing in both MMA and kickboxing without some additional help. Whether that was true or not -- and there is no explicit evidence to confirm that he was doping during his time in Japan -- Overeem was pulled from the fight and forever tainted in the eyes of the fans. He pinned the blame on his doctor for injecting him with a mixture of testosterone and anti-inflammatory medication to treat an injury.

Neither Overeem’s career nor his reputation have ever recovered from the beating they took during the fiasco surrounding the drug test, and he now stands on the cusp of being released from the UFC.

Number 8 » Things got even worse after the fight, as his urine sample came back positive for 4-Hydroxytestosterone, a banned substance he claimed to have obtained through a legal, over-the-counter supplement called Tribustak.