Shlemenko suspended 3 years by CSAC, fined $10,000, win overturned
On Tuesday the California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously to suspend former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko for three years,
Big John McCarthy @JohnMcCarthyMMA
Well deserved, a 50:1 ratio Was offered a more lenient sentence & said no. Now u have 3 yrs 2 think about taking PED
Mixed martial arts is now in a new era, officially.
Penalties for failing a PED used to be one year, and sometimes nine months with a compelling show of contrition. In a sport where elite fighters compete just twice a year, it amounted to a three month suspension, which provided insufficient financial incentive to avoid PEDs.
In May, the Nevada Athletic Commission crafted new suggested guidelines for PED test failure, that included three years for the first offense. The hope was that other leading athletic commissions like California and New Jersey would follow suit. At that point the new penalties would be normal, and all ACs would adopt them.
On Tuesday the California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously to suspend former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko for three years, following a positive for the steroid oxandrolone and T/E ratio that was reportedly 50:1. 4:1 is the upper acceptable limit at present. The test was administered following Shlemenko’s win over Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 133 in February of this year.
Shlemenko, 31, was also fined $10,000, and his win was changed to a No Contest. He will be eligible to return on February 13 2018.
Our job here is to protect the fighters, period, said CSAC commissioner John Frierson. The guy that he knocked out, he could have killed him.