Steroid Suspension Over, Former Bellator Champ Shlemenko Set To Return

With a court appeal recently shortening his California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) suspension from a jaw-dropping three years to only one, former Bellator middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko will be returning to the cage soon.

News arrived from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Shlemenko will face former title contender Kendall Grove at Bellator 162 on October 21 from the FedEx Forum in Memphis, Tennessee. The former 185-pound champ has been out of action since Bellator 133 in February 2015, where he knocked out Melvin Manhoef with a highlight reel spinning backfist.

After the fight, Shlemenko was found to have testosterone to epitestosterone levels as high as 50:1 that of a normal man, and was issued a suspension by the CSAC. When that suspension ended up being for the aforementioned three years, Shlemenko appealed on a variety of tenants, one being that he did not receive a B-sample test that night. But the one that ultimately got his suspension reduced from three years to one was an appeal to the California Superior Court, who reduced the ban last month on the basis of an original letter from the CSAC stating Shlemenko was only suspended for a year.

That didn’t stop him from fighting in his native Russia in the meantime, however, as Shlemenko fought and beat Vyacheslav Vasilevsky twice this year. Prior to his win over Manhoef in Bellator, Shlemenko had lost two straight by submission to Tito Ortiz and Brandon Halsey, snapping an impressive 13-fight win streak where he defended the Bellator belt three times.

He’ll square off with Grove, the former UFC mainstay who has won two straight fights after also losing to Halsey at Bellator 137. Former WWE champ Bobby Lashley is also set to face a yet-to-be-named opponent at the Tennessee-based card.