UFC heavyweight Dave Herman will need to immediately pass a drug test in order to fight at UFC 162, the Nevada state athletic commission ruled during a Friday hearing in the Grant Sawyer State Office Building.
Herman, who is scheduled to fight Gabriel Gonzaga at the July 6 show, faces the condition as part of his licensing requirements for the bout.
Calling Herman’s inclusion on the day’s docket an “out-of-the-ordinary agenda item,” NSAC executive director Keith Kizer noted some of Herman’s past troubles, including legal issues and two drug test failures as a professional athlete.
Herman was quizzed by commissioners about that checkered history, and said he had not smoked marijuana since Nov. 2012. He also added that he could pass a test today, and NSAC took him up on the offer, offering Herman a one-fight license that is contingent on him immediately passing a drug test.
Both of Herman’s positive tests have occurred in the last two years. The first came in Oct. 2011, when he was scheduled to fight Mike Russow, but failed a pre-fight drug test and was subsequently ruled out of the bout. The next came in Oct. 2012, when he was flagged for failing a test after his UFC 153 loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Afterward, he was suspended for six months and ordered to undergo treatment, which he says he completed.
If he passes his drug test, the 28-year-old Herman is facing a must-win situation at UFC 162, as he comes into the fight in the midst of a three-fight losing streak. Apparently, he’s pinning all of his hopes on himself, as he mentioned during the hearing that he no longer has a team and trained himself for his upcoming fight in Lebanon, Tennessee.