UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem reinstated by Nevada

The Nevada State Athletic Commission reinstated suspended Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight Alistair Overeem on Tuesday following his nine-month suspension for testing positive for elevated levels of testosterone.

The decision clears Overeem, 32, for a Feb. 2 fight against Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, and a victory in that fight would likely result in a May title shot against heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez, who regained his belt Dec. 30, beating Junior Dos Santos by unanimous decision.

Overeem was supposed to fight Dos Santos last May when Nevada inspectors surprised him with a random drug test at a March 27 pre-fight news conference in Las Vegas.

The test showed the muscular Overeem, who sent Brock Lesnar to retirement in a January 2012 victory, had a testosterone ratio more than double Nevada’s limit.

The fighter then argued to the Nevada commission in an April hearing that he was unaware of the testosterone use, and his doctor told commissioners he prescribed a cocktail to help Overeem recover from a rib injury.

Overeem has passed tests Nevada has given him in November and December.

The commission also postponed its hearing until February for former middleweight champion boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who tested positive for marijuana following his September loss by decision to Sergio Martinez in Las Vegas.

Chavez Jr. confronts a suspension that will be dated from the September positive result, and could be lengthy given his previous suspension for use of a banned diuretic. Chavez Jr. and Martinez have expressed interest in a summer rematch.

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