Report: Alistair Overeem's testosterone levels 'dangerously low' for a competitive athlete

Hey, did you hear the good news?

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight contender Alistair Overeem passed his UFC 156 post-fight drug test. Not only did he pee without PED (performance enhancing drugs), his blood test came back untainted, proving his testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) levels were below the cutoff limit.

Hey, did you hear the bad news?

"The Reem" also returned a blood testosterone level reading of 179 nanograms per deciliter, a figure that would be considered "dangerously low" for a competitive athlete, according to a recent report from MMA Fighting.

A reading below 300 would be considered low, and under 250 is low enough to open up risks of an assortment of health problems. Low testosterone leads to a variety of problems, among them diminished aggressiveness, decreased strength, diminished red blood cells (decreasing the oxygen carrying capacity in the blood and causing a decrease in stamina) and overall sluggishness.

A normal reading would be expected to fall within the range of 400 nanograms per deciliter. So what gives? Well, for starters, Overeem was benched for nine months when a surprise drug test by the Nevada State Athletic Commission returned a T/E ratio of 14:1.

"Demolition Man" plead ignorance and faced a battery of tests as part of his reinstatement.

Now the question arises as to why Overeem, at just 32 years of age, has such dramatically low testosterone, which often leads to testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). There are several causal factors including medicine, hypogonadism (Chael Sonnen's alibi) and the previous use or abuse of steroids.

There is no way to determine why the Dutchman is in the boat that he's in, but you can expect a lot of finger pointing from fans and former opponents, who may not be very sympathetic to his cause, following his knockout loss to Bigfoot Silva earlier this year in Las Vegas.

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