WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — If UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem, who was recently handed a nine-month suspension due to the elevated levels of testosterone, wants to continue with an MMA career, he better get used to drug testing more than ever, according to UFC president Dana White.
“I’ll tell you what, if he didn’t like being tested before, wait until he sees what his life is like now,” White said between bites of a burger at a media luncheon at The Palm restaurant. “He’s going to be tested all the time.”
White was in Brazil on Tuesday during the Nevada Athletic Commission hearing and was mostly out of the loop until he came back to the United States. In that meeting, Overeem claimed he didn’t know what was in an anti-inflammatory given to him by Dr. Hector Oscar Molina. Overeem, who had already been pulled out of his planned title shot at heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos, was suspended nine months.
“I just found this out this morning,” said White. “I landed at four in the morning, I didn’t know what the hell happened. Apparently, he got suspended for nine months and he said he was taking anti-inflammatory shots. Well, you should have gone in and told the commission that before you got drug tested. You don’t say it after you get busted for elevated testosterone levels. Period. Pretty simple. The rules are cut and clear.
“If you are taking anything, at all, you tell the commission. If you are taking too many aspirin a day, tell the commission ‘I’m taking nine aspirin a day because my neck hurts.’ I’m taking anti-inflammatory,’ ‘I’m on TRT,’ whatever.”
Overeem’s suspension runs through Dec. 27. While some Internet conspiracy theorists have noted the UFC regularly runs big events in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve weekend, and technically, Overeem could be in the clear to fight on that card, that’s highly unlikely from a logistical standpoint. Overeem would not be able to re-apply for a license in Nevada until after his suspension is up, and big events require months of advance planning and legwork.
White is willing to wait and see how things play out with the disgraced fighter. But he can’t hide his anger at how things went down.
“He’s gonna have to do a suspension,” White said. “We’ll see what happens. I’m just pissed off that he lied to us.
“I am not an Alistair Overeem fan at all.”