The future looks grim for a match featuring Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem at UFC 146. Though Overeem’s failed drug test comes as no surprise to those who have followed him since his lanky K-1 days, the timing couldn’t be much worse. …
The future looks grim for a match featuring Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem at UFC 146. Though Overeem’s failed drug test comes as no surprise to those who have followed him since his lanky K-1 days, the timing couldn’t be much worse. Desperate fans have taken to lobbying via Twitter for journeyman Mark Hunt as a potential replacement to face Dos Santos (a rumor summarily quashed by UFC President Dana White.)
With the short list of suitable replacements looking very short indeed, a novel idea would be for White to sign Russian legend Fedor Emelianenko to challenge Dos Santos for the UFC heavyweight title. Given White’s acrimonious history with Emelianenko’s management, the possibility seems as unlikely to ever become a reality as it is intriguing, but there is real logic behind it. Considering White’s promotional savvy and history of confounding expectations, one should never say never.
Here are five reasons why Dos Santos vs. Fedor actually makes a lot of sense.
In just one failed drug test, Alistair Overeem has managed to upset his peers, fans and UFC President Dana White.During the post-fight press conference for UFC on Fuel 2, White deflected several questions regarding the former Strikeforce heavyweight ch…
In just one failed drug test, Alistair Overeem has managed to upset his peers, fans and UFC President Dana White.
During the post-fight press conference for UFC on Fuel 2, White deflected several questions regarding the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion.
“Somebody will talk to you about Overeem. Dude, please, I will snap and freak out, and I don’t want to do that,” White said. “I can’t talk about it. Yeah, I don’t want to talk about it. I’m too upset about it. Seriously, I can’t talk about it.”
“You want Lorenzo [Fertitta]? Lorenzo’s peanut butter man. He’s [expletive] smooth. Let him talk to you. I can’t talk about this.”
In a random pre-fight drug test, Overeem’s test results came back positive for elevated testosterone levels. Overeem was slated to face Junior Dos Santos for the UFC title on May 26, but the failed testing puts the highly anticipated heavyweight showdown in jeopardy.
Typically, a failed testing is grounds for an immediate one-year suspension, but since Overeem wasn’t licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, he can’t be punished in this particular case.
White’s frustration with Overeem likely comes from the huge question mark now placed on the UFC 146 main event.
Overeem has already applied for a new license, and he is set to stand before the commission on April 24 to state his case.
As a big fan of Alistair Overeem, I’m honestly sick of all these rumors and speculation regarding Overeem’s recent drug test failure. “The Reem” is one of the best fighters walking the planet, and it appears that people are so j…
As a big fan of Alistair Overeem, I’m honestly sick of all these rumors and speculation regarding Overeem’s recent drug test failure. “The Reem” is one of the best fighters walking the planet, and it appears that people are so jealous of him that they’ve started inventing crazy theories to discredit his success.
So I’m here to tell you: There is an abundance of good, sound reasons why Overeem tested positive for that whatever it’s called—the ratio thing. Who cares what it’s called? Do we even know what it means?
Anyway, there are too many good reasons to choose from, but I picked five. Let’s start from the top.
Over the last year, the public’s perception of light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones has changed drastically. He’s widely considered to be one of the best fighters in the world, but many believe that his physical abilities combined with his …
Over the last year, the public’s perception of light-heavyweight champion Jon Jones has changed drastically. He’s widely considered to be one of the best fighters in the world, but many believe that his physical abilities combined with his new-found fame have rapidly inflated his ego.
His fans and outspoken opponents have drawn attention to his self-assuredness, most notably Quinton Jackson and Rashad Evans. They don’t hesitate to call him cocky.
I’ve written before about the unpresuming facade that Jones attempts to portray in his interviews and how his upcoming opponents often see right through it. Rashad Evans, the No. 1 light-heavyweight contender and former teammate of Jones, has continually poked the young lion during joint interviews over the last few months, as is evident in the video below.
Evans has continuously made claims of Jones’ conceit and has consistently shared his opinion of Jones, which is that he’s fake. Evans believes that Jones puts up this front to hide his arrogance.
During their interview on SportsNite, Evans described Jones as creative. He said, “He fights with that youth of just not knowing anything can happen. You know that youth when you just go out there and you just think that everything’s going to go the way you planned. Before you know it, it always don’t happen like that.”
This image of Jones portrayed by fans and fighters alike has become so commonplace that at times Jones has relented in his attempts at appearing humble. He’s claimed in the SportsNite and the UFC Ultimate Insider interviews to believe his own hype and to be high on himself. He believes it’s key to his success.
Their lack of respect for one another is evident as they constantly speak over and interrupt each other.
In part two of their interview on UFC Ultimate Insider, Jones explains how Evans has been known as an egotistical fighter since the beginning of his career. He stated, “I remember Rashad started all the way back on The Ultimate Fighter with the gyrating and the dancing and showboating in front of people. Matt Hughes, somebody who’s greatly respected, was one of the first to call it out. ‘Hey this kid’s a little on the cocky side’.”
The 24-year-old champion also explained that Evans’ entire reason for leaving Jackson’s camp was that he needed a training group that would focus on himself. Jones stated that the proof is in Evans’ lifestyle, that he’s loyal only to himself.
Jones clearly believes that Evans fabricated an excuse to leave and create his own camp to spite his former teammate and coaches. After their falling-out, Evans moved to Florida and created his own training team, named “Blackzilians” since the majority of the members were either black or Brazilian.
Jones claimed to have a saying that is “There’s no ‘I’ in ‘team.’ There’s no ‘I’ in ‘Jacksons.’ There’s ‘I’ in ‘Blackzilians.’”
As Jones began to speak about Greg Jackson’s team, Evans abruptly cut in, raised his voice and stated, “Don’t talk about the history of the program because, [expletive] I made that program!” They continued, back and forth, mocking and sarcastically demeaning each other.
Jones then scathingly spoke directly to Evans and said, “I really look at you as fake. I look at you as arrogant. I look at you as selfish. I look at you as self-centered. And I think your biggest thing is to try to reflect it off on me and make me seem like I’m everything that you’re feeling inside your heart.”
Evans simply looked at him with a smile.
At certain points during multiple joint interviews, Jones seemed to become weary of Evans’ taunts and mocking behavior and resorted to breaking down two of their recent opponents that they have in common. He coldly stated how Evans had trouble defeating Rampage Jackson and was knocked out “silly” by Lyoto Machida, while he finished them both.
With finality, Jones stated, “I feel like the champ in every way. And I feel like I’m going to do the same exact thing to you in April.”
While deciphering which of the pair is most cocky is extremely difficult, if not impossible, they contrast each other with one key feature. The difference between them is that Jones makes attempts to be a relaxed and confident fighter while Evans makes no claims of being humble.
Evans doesn’t hesitate to mock his former teammate while Jones always initiates the conversation with a calm and collected demeanor which he attempts to use to methodically disarm his sarcastic rival. Unfortunately for the champion, his contender knows him too well and says exactly what is needed to rile him up.
As confusion surrounds the possible scenarios that could take place next week at Alistair Overeem’s hearing, we wait in growing anticipation to learn his explanation.Since his testosterone to epitestosterone (T:E) ratio was found to be 14 times t…
As confusion surrounds the possible scenarios that could take place next week at Alistair Overeem’s hearing, we wait in growing anticipation to learn his explanation.
Since his testosterone to epitestosterone (T:E) ratio was found to be 14 times that of the average man, he must present an excuse to the Nevada State Athletic Commission to explain such a high result.
According to his manager, Glen Robinson, there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for his ratio being so out of proportion. He told Inside MMA’s Ron Kruck that although Overeem’s T:E ratio was “off,” his testosterone level was not high.
Until this point, media sources have speculated that for his ratio to be so abnormal, his testosterone must be significantly higher than allowed.
His massive physique and the missed urine test last December have led many to believe he will claim to be utilizing Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and simply hasn’t reported it yet.
TRT is now widely believed to be a loophole in the system that athletes use to excessively raise their testosterone levels during training and lower them before the predetermined urine exam.
But these statements from Overeem’s manager insinuate the possibility that Overeem’s epitestosterone level is exceptionally low.
There are few known circumstances where epitestosterone may be lower than normal. Jake Young, a Behavioral Neuroscience MD/PhD student and Stanford graduate, analyzed a similar situation in 2006 in which Floyd Landis blamed a low epitestosterone level to be the cause of his high T:E ratio.
Landis was found to be guilty of abuse after a carbon isotope ratio test was used to determine that his testosterone was synthetic rather than natural. But prior to the conclusive testing, Landis’ situation was similar to Overeem’s.
Prior to the exam, Young speculated on the possibilities that could cause Landis to have a low epitestosterone level. He points out that we should not only look at what can alter levels of epitestosterone, but also what can alter the excretion of epitestosterone.
One possibility he noted was that during a controlled experiment, it was shown that ingestion of alcohol “always resulted in a significant increase in the ratio between testosterone and epitestosterone.” Changes in the ratio scaled up to 90 percent in some of the subjects studied.
This change is dependent upon the amount of alcohol consumed. According to the calculations in the study, Overeem would have had to consume about five two-ounce shots of highly concentrated liquor for his urine levels to change so significantly.
While it would be surprising to find that Overeem consumed alcohol in this quantity during training, it is nevertheless plausible.
Other examples Young explicated were benign prostatic hypertrophy and individuals with naturally low epitestosterone levels. The former generally occurs at ages 60-70, and the latter is a rare occurrence, but these are also nevertheless plausible.
If Overeem alleges to have naturally low epitestosterone levels, the commission may request further testing to prove his claim.
While they don’t put Overeem in the clear, these examples show that there are possibilities that haven’t been considered. For several years, spectators have constantly attributed Overeem’s growth in size to steroid use despite the lack of evidence to support such allegations.
On UFC Tonight, Chael Sonnen points out that Overeem has not tested positive for any illegal substances. He has simply been tested to have an abnormal ratio and, as Michael Schiavello pointed out, did not fight with that high ratio.
My point here is that fans and other speculators should not jump to conclusions because of the general perception of a fighter or their situation. With Robinson’s statements and Valentijn Overeem’s claims that he would know if his brother utilized TRT, it’s difficult to persecute Overeem when analyzing the facts.
Since Overeem has officially applied for licensure in Nevada, he is now subject to refusal of licensure and/or disciplinary action from the NSAC, per a 2008 memorandum from the commission.
Confidence from the Overeem party, exemplified by Robinson’s statements and Overeem’s application for licensure, show that there may be a viable explanation for all of this. Of course Landis had similar confidence in his statements that concluded to not be true.
But until April 24th, we can only speculate on the possibilities. Hopefully everyone can get their facts straight.
Anyone questioning Alistair Overem’s confidence heading into his NSAC hearing next week can think again, as the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion is counting on having more than just one fight before everything is said and done.
“April 24 is goin…
Anyone questioning Alistair Overem’s confidence heading into his NSAC hearing next week can think again, as the former Strikeforce heavyweight champion is counting on having more than just one fight before everything is said and done.
“April 24 is going to be the biggest fight of my life,” Overeem told El Octagono. “And May 26 is going to be an even bigger fight of my life. I’m feeling very confident. I’m feeling very good so let’s knock them dead.”
When Overeem failed a drug test at the UFC 146 pre-fight press conference, his fight with UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos was quickly put into doubt. He earned the shot at JDS after defeating former UFC champion Brock Lesnar last year.
Since Overeem hadn’t been licensed during the drug test, which saw his T/E ratio at 14:1, he couldn’t actually be suspended.
Now, he will have to go in front of the Nevada State Athletic Commission later this month to make a case for being allowed to have a license to fight.
With the questions looming about whether or not Overeem will fight, there are even more questions as to who would replace him. UFC president Dana White already confirmed Frank Mir will be fighting Cain Velasquez no matter what on the same card, which features a full main card of heavyweight bouts. He also shut down the fans’ rally for Mark Hunt.
If Overeem is given a license, fans will be able to let out a big sigh of relief in what has been a crazy last couple weeks outside of the Octagon.
Over the last year, the public’s perception of light-heavyweight champion