UFC
Dana White still upset with Alistair Overeem, explains decision to remove him from UFC 146 main event
Apr 22, 2012 - 6:15:55 PM Dana White still upset with Alistair Overeem, explains decision to remove him from UFC 146 main event

DISCUSS ALL THIS IN OUR NEW MMATORCH FORUM

...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The UFC's decision to pull Alistair Overeem from a UFC 146 title fight against Junior dos Santos came as a bit of a surprise on Friday, especially considering Overeem's impending hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission this Tuesday.

Overeem tested positive for an elevated T/E ratio at 14:1 in a surprise pre-fight drug test for the event in March, and he will answer for that test at Tuesday's hearing. However, UFC President Dana White announced Friday that Frank Mir will step in for Overeem against JDS, regardless of Tuesday's outcome. On Saturday night, following UFC 145, White explained that they simply didn't have any more time to wait, and they're also not confident Overeem will be licensed by the commission.

"What happened with this whole thing was I've got my marketing people terrorizing me," White said after the event (transcribed by MMAjunkie.com. "It just gets to the point where you've got to run your business. I tried to wait."

"Anybody who knows anything abut the pay-per-view business, we're already past the deadline. We've got to run with it, and I'm not feeling too optimistic (about Overeem's chances to gain licensure)... There's so much more that goes into this that you guys don't know. If we don't get into the loop on pay-per-view, you don't get in a lot of the systems. There's just so many things that we have to do to run the business."

White said Mir made the most sense to step in for Overeem, though Fabricio Werdum was also considered as a replacement. Ultimately, Werdum wanted to remain on the UFC 147 card in Brazil, and Mir was already preparing for a May 26 fight. And for Overeem? White's not sure what the NSAC will ultimately do, but he's still upset with the Dutch heavyweight for being in this position in the first place.

"I honestly don't know what they're going to do to that dude," White said. "I'm not very optimistic about it... I'm still angry. I'm not angry with the commission. The commission is doing their job. That's what they do.

"I sat down in a room with Alistair, and he told me, 'They can test me anytime they want. I'm the most tested athlete in all of sports.'"

Could that mean the end of Overeem's UFC run after just one fight? White's still not sure, but Tuesday's hearing - combined with Overeem's previous statements to White and Lorenzo Fertitta - certainly don't bode well for him continuing on in the organization.

"We'll see what happens," White said of Overeem's future with the organization. "I don't know, man. This isn't really my deal."

"I've had situations with lots of people. It's how you [expletive] handle yourself as a man in life, in business and everything else. You sit down and tell me one thing and it's not true, or you're doing another thing, then [expletive] you."

Penick's Analysis: Pulling Overeem was the right move, especially with the issues of promoting the next pay-per-view event. It's nowhere near a given that he'll say anything on Tuesday that will sway the Nevada State Athletic Commission. If he does somehow manage to get licensed, the UFC could place him in against Cain Velasquez, in a situation similar to Nick Diaz at UFC 137 last October. But when they aren't feeling confident on Overeem's hearing, and aren't happy with him in the first place, it made a lot more sense to pull him from the fight instead of having to promote a potentially tainted Heavyweight Title fight. Don't be surprised if Overeem is out of the UFC by Tuesday night if he fails to get licensed.

[Alistair Overeem art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]