THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS — UFC president Dana White says a heavyweight championship fight will take place as scheduled on May 26 with or without Alistair Overeem.
White said Thursday that Junior dos Santos will defend his title in the UFC 146 main event but that it’s up to the Nevada Athletic Commission to determine whether Overeem will be the challenger.
Commission executive Keith Kizer says the Dutch kickboxing champion can seek analysis of a second sample from his March 27 urine test.
Kizer said Wednesday that Overeem’s first sample tested unacceptably high for testosterone and Overeem will need commission approval to fight Dos Santos as scheduled.
His representatives haven’t responded to messages left through his Las Vegas lawyer, David Chesnoff.
Overeem knocked out Brock Lesnar in the first round of UFC 141 on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas.
NOTES: A Twitter campaign (#RallyForMarkHunt) has been started to have veteran kickboxer Mark Hunt, who is scheduled to take on Stefan Struve at UFC 146, replace Overeem and fight for the belt. The New Zealand native is only 8-7 in MMA, but has won his past three bouts in the Octagon, including a first-round knockout of Cheick Kongo at UFC 144 in February … Another fighter rumoured to be in consideration for the slot is Russian superstar Fedor Emelianenko, who has never fought for the UFC. However Evgeni Kogan, the director of M-1 Global which manages Emelianenko, nixed that, tweeting Friday that he will be fighting June 21, at the Ice Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia. No opponent was announced, but it has been reported that it will be against Bobby Lashley …
The first episode of “UFC Primetime: Jones vs. Evans” airs Friday night ahead of the light-heavyweight championship bout between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans headlining UFC 145 on April 21 in Atlanta. Viewers can watch it on Sportsnet following the replay of this week’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter Live (check local listings).
