Frank Mir's manager believes he'll face Junior dos Santos if Alistair Overeem is denied a licensed

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Alistair Overeem is expected to use a TRT defense for his elevated T/E ratio when he appears before the Nevada State Athletic Commission later this month, but if the NSAC does not grant him a therapeutic use exemption for the treatment, he'll be denied a license and will be out of UFC 146.

That will leave UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos without an opponent for the May 26 event. UFC President Dana White has said that the co-main event of that card between Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez would still be on, but Mir's manager Malki Kawa still believes his client will be the first choice to replace Overeem if that is needed.

"I think there's a bout agreement in place right now between Overeem and Junior dos Santos, and I think legally if he gets licensed, he has an opportunity to take action or what would happen is they would say 'hey Frank Mir you're going to JDS' and the 24th comes, which is two weeks away, and then they turn around and say 'Overeem here's your license.' Well now Frank guess what you're going back to fight Cain (Velasquez) and Overeem you go fight JDS," Kawa said in an interview with MMAWeekly.com.

"So to avoid confusion, what I think is happening is they're going to wait for the decision, if Overeem gets licensed, everything goes on as planned. If Overeem doesn't get licensed, then you can bet your house there's going to be a replacement. I tend to think that it will be Frank Mir, but who knows? No one has said to me it's going to be Frank Mir for sure. I asked, I've been pushing, I pushed, I've been trying to get a commitment from somebody, please just tell me it will be Frank Mir, but I think they're being tight lipped about this one."

Ultimately, Kawa doesn't see any other option besides Mir for that fight if Overeem doesn't get licensed.

"I think it will be Frank Mir," he said. "I don't know anyone else that can get it. I think Frank Mir will end up getting the shot in the event that Overeem can't get licensed."

Penick's Analysis: While I think Dan Henderson is certainly still a realistic option, I do believe that Mir is the most deserving option. It also makes sense for them to right now act as if everything is on according to plan, and then if Overeem is not licensed move on from there. I suspect that Kawa's on point in his thoughts here, and it's all going to come down to what happens on April 24 with Overeem and the NSAC.

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_13007.shtml

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