Ex-Bellator champ Alexander Shlemenko considered quitting MMA after suspension

Former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko returns to the Viacom-owned promotion this month for the first time since a failed drug test turned his career upside down.

Both the commission and Shlemenko declared victory when a state court reduced his three-year suspension, which stemmed from a positive test for steroid oxandrolone and a 50-1 testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio after his knockout win over Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 133 (watch the highlights above).

The 32-year-old Russian continues to deny he used any banned substances and called the commission’s treatment of him “very biased.”

“I think because the truth is on my side because I’ve never used any banned substances, and especially if you look at the numbers that were given, they were just absolutely crazy,” Shlemenko, who at Bellator 162 meets Kendall Grove, told MMAjunkie. “I think that was the main thing that helped us in the case against the commission.”

But as he waited for his case to be resolved, he also contemplated quitting the sport.

“It was a very difficult period of time for me because it’s really difficult to be punished for something you haven’t done,” said Shlemenko (53-9 MMA, 11-3 BMMA), who headlines opposite Grove (23-15 MMA, 4-2 BMMA) on the Spike-televised card at FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tenn, on Oct. 21. “But I’m happy the commission gave me permission to fight in Russia so I could stay active. I’m very glad to be back in the Bellator cage.”

Shlemenko fought twice this year in Russia, and he went 2-0 in bouts for the M-1 promotion. The CSAC declined to pursue additional administrative action against him because it doesn’t have jurisdiction over international events.

Back home, Shlemenko claims he had the support of his countrymen despite the failed tests. He said when a video explaining the decision was released, the public sided with him.

“The main reason was that when those numbers were published, for people that know about the sport, it was obvious that they were not just high, but super high, and the fact that the test wasn’t an out-of-competition test, but we knew about this test ahead of time,” he said. “I think most people realized the commission’s decision was very biased.”

The episode nevertheless left an impression on Shlemenko when it comes to the career of an athlete.

“Nobody’s guaranteed against mistakes, and if the commission makes a mistake, they will never admit it,” he said. “The current relationship is far from perfect because they are catching people who are using forbidden substances. But at the same time, there could be mistakes.

“In a perfect world, there would be a completely independent structure, and there would be an unbiased approach to all the competitors so everyone would be in the same conditions. That would be the best.”

Shlemenko, a dominant presence in the Bellator middleweight division before a submission loss to Brandon Halsey in 2014, maintains that athletes get treated differently when it comes to anti-doping cases. He said popular fighters get more chances with their promoters, citing the case of UFC interim light heavyweight champ Jon Jones and his multiple failed drug tests, the latest of which is now being adjudicated by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and UFC anti-doping partner USADA.

“For some people, it’s OK to do wrong things, and other people get punished really hard for that,” Shlemenko said. “We see the approach and attitudes toward different athletes is different.”

But now, he’s focused on reviving his career after a big setback. He said Grove is a “great test” on his journey to prove he’s the world’s best middleweight.

It’s hard to pin down Shlemenko on exactly how to define that title. He said it’s achieving the pound-for-pound status of Georges St-Pierre or Fedor Emelianenko in their primes, even though those distinctions are made by others and are generally subjective.

Shlemenko would settle for being called the “people’s champ,” something many fighters have called themselves over the years, usually on the heels of a setback. A Bellator belt might be his best start.

After spending so much time on the bench, it would be a step in the right direction.

For more on Bellator 162, check out the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.