UFC 146: Alistair Overeem’s T/E Ratio 14:1, Over 2x The Limit

Quest Labs, the firm retained by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to execute the drug tests on fighters is reporting that Alistair Overeem's…

By: Nate Wilcox | 11 years ago
UFC 146: Alistair Overeem’s T/E Ratio 14:1, Over 2x The Limit
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Quest Labs, the firm retained by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to execute the drug tests on fighters is reporting that Alistair Overeem’s Testosterone to epitestosterone ratio was a mind-boggling 14:1. The news comes by way of Mike Chiappetta at MMA Fighting.

The NSAC sets the acceptable upper-limit of T/E at 6:1 which is considerably higher than the 4:1 T/E ratio allowed by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). According to Wikipedia, most healthy adult males have a T/E ratio of 1:1.


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Epitestosterone is an inactive analogue to testosterone that is produced in the testes simultaneously with testosterone, but critically is not impacted by exogenous administrations of testosterone. That is, when you’re juicing you just add T but not E.

For reference Floyd Landis had an 11:1 T/E ratio when he got in trouble at the Tour de France.

Mike Chiappetta has more on one athlete who tested even higher than Overeem:

Overeem’s number is slightly lower than that of Chael Sonnen when he was caught with an elevated level in 2010. Sonnen, who lost to Anderson Silva the day after the test was taken, produced a sample with a 16.9:1 ratio.

Overeem’s sample was split into “A” and “B” portions and Overeem has the option of requesting that his “B” sample be tested, either at Quest or at a different laboratory. So far Overeem and his camp have yet to respond to the test results.

UPDATE: Victor Conte tweets that Johnny Morton, former NFL wide receiver turned MMA fighter, tested at a level of 78:1 in 2007.

More SBN coverage of UFC 146

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Nate Wilcox
Nate Wilcox

Nate Wilcox is the founding editor of BloodyElbow.com. As such he has hired every editor and writer to work for the site. Wilcox’s writing for BE is known for its emphasis on MMA history, the evolution of fighting techniques and strong opinions. Wilcox developed the SBN MMA consensus rankings which were featured in USA Today from 2009 to 2011. Before founding BE, Wilcox was a political operative working for such figures as Senators John Kerry and Mark Warner and an early political blogger. He is the co-author of Netroots Rising, a history of the political blogosphere from 2003 to 2007. Wilcox also hosts the Let It Roll podcast on music history for the Pantheon Podcast Network.

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