Heavy MMA reports that Alistair Overeem has tested positive for increased levels of testosterone. The test was taken after a press conference to hype Overeem’s title shot against JDS Memorial Day weekend.
Several fighters were tested March 27th with Overeem being the only positive test. The test puts Overeem’s fight May 26th against Junior dos Santos all but off as he’d have to appear before the Nevada State Athletic Commission to obtain a license. The positive drug test has angered Dana White and we will now see what Overeem and the UFC do to fix this situation.
Payout Perspective:
The pre-fight drug tests were a surprise to the fighters and the positive result really jeopardizes the main event. Suffice it to say, it will be interesting to see what Overeem will do. Will he appear before the commission to offer some reasoning behind the test? He also has the option of taking a second test. If the second test comes back negative, then he’d have a better chance of receiving a license although it would not explain the first test. From another side, it would be interesting to see what the UFC will do. White was not happy about Overeem testing positive and it hurts what was to be a huge PPV. The positive test may also force White’s hand with what to do with Overeem. He was in recent legal trouble and now testing positive on a drug test may put Overeem’s time with Zuffa on thin ice. Also, what should the UFC do, if anything, to stress to its fighters about testing positive for drug tests.
Ouch. He has a great contract that will set him and his family up for life, perhaps several generations, and he put it all in jeopardy. All he had to do to keep minting money in the cage was not lose three fights in a row and get cut. The one thing he couldn’t do is put one of Dana’s main events at risk. We all know how Dana reacts when you put his main event at risk due to your own stupidity.
He’s too big a commodity for Zuffa to cut, so I’m sure they will forgive him in the end, but he’s probably facing a lengthy suspension or at least great difficulty in getting licensed, I’m not sure what the repercussions are from the commission since he wasn’t licensed at the time.
Oh yeah, and I miss out on a fight I have been looking forward to for years – Overeem for the UFC title – in return for a fight I don’t really care about – Mir v. Dos Santos.
He won’t be suspended since he was out of competition at the time of the test (think Josh Barnett summer ’09), but if Nevada refuses to license him due to this test result he probably won’t be able to obtain a license in any other state. He’ll have to appear before the commission, test clean, explain himself and most likely outline a process of “rehabilitation” that he intends to go through (the SACs are big on rehabilitation when things like this happen).
Thanks for the insight MV. At least if he can avoid a suspension we may see him fight again in the near future. Thank God for the Texas commission. They’ll license anybody.
Cutting him seems a bit harsh but I could see them reworking his contract. I doubt they would do it because it was pretty apparent from his head doubling in size that they were signing a roided up monster, but if they were to add more stringent drug testing into his contract they could either prevent this or have an easy means of dumping him and possibly recovering some of his huge salary if this happens again.
NSAC: Results came back for Overeem at 14:1 ratio… 6:1 is NSAC limit, 4:1 is CSAC and WADA limit. Doubt UFC books him in a more favorable state (Texas), would look pretty bad on their part.
This is crap. No one cares; nearly every pro in every sport is on some AAS… This is like reefer madness. The playing field IS level!
Move to Texas UFC! We welcome all! Except for the 30k event tax….
If Overeem was say licensed in California, couldn’t the UFC move the card there? Overeem tests beneath levels by fight time.
PR disaster, but I wanna see that fight! 😛