Dana White surprised NSAC gave Alistair Overeem only nine month denial, says "I know he lied to me"

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Alistair Overeem's license denial on Tuesday means he's unable to apply for a license in Nevada for the next nine months. Though he could technically apply elsewhere, the denial would likely be honored everywhere else, and the UFC isn't going to attempt to book him anywhere else in that time frame.

He may not even be in the UFC long enough for an attempt to come together anyway. UFC President Dana White remains unsure about Overeem's future with the organization, and in an interview with Jim Rome on Wednesday, he was surprised Overeem only has to wait nine months before he can reapply.

"I wasn't very optimistic about his chances," he said (transcribed by BloodyElbow.com). "I didn't think things were going to turn out very well for him. So as expected. Nine months? Nine months isn't as bad as I thought it would be... I thought he'd get a year, easily a year."

"If he was on anti-inflammatory meds, whatever the deal was, you're supposed to disclose that to the commission before the test whatever you're taking. You're supposed to disclose that to the commission before the test not after the test."

Regardless of Overeem's excuse, White still contends that the heavyweight contender lied to him and UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta before they signed him. He remains heated over that situation, and because of that he's not sure whether the organization will hold onto him.

"I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens man," he said in regards to Overeem's UFC future. "You know he went before the commission and the commission gave him 9 months. I'm sure he's going to have to go in and get tested again. Before he went in there he sat down to lunch with me and my partner looked us in the face and said 'I'm the most tested athlete in all of sports they can test me whenever they want to.' Well he flew in for the press conference, they tested him and now he's on a nine month suspension."

"I know he lied to me.... I don't like it. You know you sit down and you have these guys that you do business with and you say let's sit down, be honest with me and let's figure out how we can work together. And then they sit there and lie to your face. I don't know. Not the kind of guys I want to do business with."

Penick's Analysis: It's clear White doesn't buy the story Overeem was selling to the commission on Tuesday, and that's why the UFC pulled him last week from UFC 146. It's important to distinguish that Overeem isn't technically suspended, he's just not able to apply in Nevada until the end of December. Still, because of the way the scenario played out, White may decide to release him anyway. We'll know more once White gets a little more information on the scenario, and we'll see how he decides to play it from there. But he doesn't believe Overeem right now, and that certainly doesn't bode well for Overeem's UFC future.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_13131.shtml

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