Dana White: Frank Mir will not replace Alistair Overeem against JDS
Posted on April 7, 2012, 12:36 PM by Joey Santosus
With a replacement opponent for UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior dos Santos yet to be announced, it now appears the consensus leading candidate, Frank Mir, has been excluded as a possibility.
UFC President Dana White confirmed as much via Twitter, announcing that the UFC 146 co-main event, a number-one contender bout between Frank Mir and Cain Velasquez, will go ahead as planned on May 26th. "Mir vs. Cain will happen," he tweeted.
Originally set to challenge for the title was former Strikeforce and Dream champ, Alistair Overeem. That match-up, however, came under doubt when news broke earlier this week that the Dutchman had failed a surprise drug-test following a pre-fight press conference held to promote the event.
With the Nevada State Athletic Commission now unlikely to grant Overeem a license to compete, speculation surrounding his replacement has run rampant. Though Mir has topped the list of suggested candidates, other such names as Velasquez, Fabricio Werdum, Mark Hunt, and even Light Heavyweight contender, Dan Henderson, have also been proposed.
Who the promotion will ultimately select to step in remains unclear, however White has assured that dos Santos will, in fact, defend his title in the headlining bout.
UFC 146 goes live May 26th from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. In addition to the aforementioned match-ups, the all Heavyweight card will also feature TUF 10 winner Roy "Big Country" Nelson taking on Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva, Gabriel Gonzaga welcoming promotional newcomer Shane del Rosario, and Mark Hunt squaring off with Stefan Struve.
Further Reading: Dana White: UFC 146 title fight will happen no matter what
Photo: Scott Hirano
Comments
so his first defense isn't against the #1 contender cos of licenses and isn't against the #2 or #3 contender cos of danas stubbornness, looks like juniors getting his first defense pretty handily
Brock is coming out of retirement to fight him.
@mousasi
its funny/sad cause I can see it happening lol.... :(
Not even close......
Daniel Cormier would be good...He is the No.1 contender in Strikeforce...
give it to him....
DW hates Baby face Assassin...
@ Mousasi hahaha Yeah I thought about this possibility , Dana is in love with Brock so It would be a possibility , a Stupid option, but still possible ...
Consider this...
1) The only reason Brock didn't retire BEFORE the Overeem fight was because he wanted another shot at the title...which he would get.
2) The UFC really doesn't have a good option. Mir and Cain are the next two guys in that division, and Dana said it will NOT be one of those guys. Probably the next two guys, Carwin and Werdum, already lost to JDS very decisively. Who's next...Big Ugly Silva? Nobody wants to see that.
3) Nobody in the UFC HW division can match Brock in terms of selling PPVs.
4) The Fertitas and DW are smart businessmen.
I seriously doubt Brock is still in MMA shape though
werdum lost years ago id like to see that fight
Well, this is getting really intriguing...Hope Overeem's second test comes negative, but this is just a remote possibility/hope...
I just heard that Overeem's second sample tried to bite someone...it is not coming back negative.
Absolutely not a possibility...reem is f@#$%$ and we get to suffer as well....but in the mean time, MARK HUNT MARK HUNT MARK HUNT...hes getting old...if he loses, he'll probably retire...i think dana might know its a good fight n e ways...i dont see Hunt getting KO'd...and who has really tested JDS's chin? Mir/velasquez just has to happen...that fight is good enough for a main event on its own...the rest of the card already seems ok, so why not? Sounds like not only do I NEED to see cain vs frank, but apparently...so does DANA! :D he just made my day!
hahahahahhaha i would campaign for hunt aswell, he is elite for stand up but to be fair jds can hang with the best grapplers, brown belt is bjjj he cud just mark down and submit his ass.....they are both amazing strikers but lets face it, jds would dominate him.....1..2 combo followed by a take down and then a sub....i kn ow jds is mega at boxing but he did not get to the level he is at with out searching for oppents weakness, if there is a mark hunt fight wit will fo to the ground. If its frank mir, he will bix him and very very likely knoock him out....but its a sport where anything can happen, i just hope i seen jds on top for a long time hes like a big kid.... i love the way he lives his life, hes like a normal person what a guy hahhahaa, if u wud see him in a pub/ bar and actin the way he does u would be like oh shit i reckon i cud take this bloke.... then BAM....KO....such a cool guy i truly be;ieve he is the fedor of this gen....and for those of u that think comparing him to fedor as the most dominate champ....well ur pretty new to mma, its a big compliment...im basically sayin the next 10 years are his.....
I just read what i postedand im pretty drunk so plz understand hahaha, but ye, JDS is the man, I reckon his is the fedor of this generation, he looks like a normal guy but he wud **** u up in so many ways hahahah
but a loveable guy.
sorry for gobbin off for so long i feel like sonnen
C'mon...y'all don't see it already? It's Timmy time.....Tim Sylvia that is.
I myself am expecting to see Hendo. He was gurantee'd a title shot at 185 or 205 and I gurantee Hendo would accept the fight.
Funny how you insert license for cant pass a drug test.
If Dana wanted to put a fight on that mattered, JDS would be fighting either Mir or Valasquez. Since he's made it clear neither of them will challenge JDS, it makes me think he's not thinking serious HW match anymore. The impression I get is Dana, at this point, is trying to figure out a way to feed someone to JDS in an exciting manner, to then setup the next HW matchup w/ either Cain or Mir.
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess he's going to put Verdum in there. Either that or offer Lesnar a bajillion dollars for a comeback fight. While I'd LOVE to see a brawl between Hunt and JDS, Hunt doesn't have enough legitimacy to fight for a title.
Well, at least the winner of Mir vs. Cain will still be the legitimate No. 1 contender. I think Dana must have something up his sleeve, otherwise he would have taken more time to think about Mir.
I regret that I have but one "sharp" to give this comment.
Dana always says he gives the fans the fights they want. Lets start a tweetvalanche for Mir. It makes the most sense.
I don't think Dana's comment means that he's counting out Mir as a replacement... Unfortunately, I think it means that JDS has indicated he will not accept a replacement fight at this point. Although that's unlike JDS, I cannot fathom Dana giving the shot to anyone but Mir.
Its time for the Ferrtitas and Dana to lay down the law once and for all. "This day forward, if you are caught testng above limits with illegal substances, you are released from the UFC to NEVER return! EVER!
If you are in the UFC you better make dammn sure your not on anything or its your azz!!!!!"
Bobbo Sapp vs JDS Dana,I love it when Bobbo the clown gets beat up like rag doll! =D
To be fair he only said "Mir vs. Cain will happen", you know how Dana is with words.
He could just be saying that to silence people assuming it will be one of them for now.
You never know he might actually do replace Overeem with Mir and say he expects Mir to fight Velasquez in the future.
Of course it's likely that the Mir Velasuez fight is staying as it is but I'm just trying to say the title of this article is quoting Dana on something he never said.
I'm hoping to god that JDS remains on the card and that Mir vs. Velasquez isn't promoted to main event, always look forward to Junior's fights.
IMO, outside of Mir and Velasquez, the only reasonable options are Hunto, Werdum or Big Foot.
The only option I see for this fight is Kenny Florian.
Why not Werdum? He had a fight with JDS when he was in the UFC before. Since then Werdum has been impressive; only losing to the Reem in a fight that many thought Werdum won. He has beaten both Nelson and Bigfoot in his recent outings; with his standup looking good against Big Country, and Overeem as well.
I think this is a good and possible option.
Agreed...i thought he beat reem...i also think the judges counted every time werdum fell to the floor as a take down for reem...werdum is very very underrated.
Mir vs. Cain is clear #1 contender fight, Dana's not gonna fix a mistake with another mistake.
Even if Alistair passed the drug test, im pretty sure that JDS will win on his title defense. Im just a little surprise on Alistairs drug test result. Im looking for Cain Velasquez vs JDS II. Because when these two warriors collide you cant predict who will win, all you will know is this will goes for KO. So I hope it will happen.
Hate to b a buzz kill...but theres absolutely NO way reem will b fighting on THAT card
It would have been a great main event for sure. But it is more than likely past the point of no return on that fight.
While having the champ fighting the top contender makes the most sense and is usually the best match up, it doesn't always have to be like that and you can still get a great fight, just ask Matt Serra
The UFC pick a huge underdog and sell it as Rocky Balboa-type match up.
If it was up to me, I'd give Mark Hunt the shot. His stand up is excellent and he could knock out anyone with one punch.
To be honest , although I been waiting a lot for JDS vs. Overeem . At the moment, with this picture, of Alistair giving a 14:1 pre drug test ratio. I prefer this fight doesn´t happen. fighters using steroids have huge advantage over clean fighters . it wouldn´t be fair for Junior to fight with a juiced up Overeem , with a high probability of Junior losing the belt unfairly.
I see the replacement among these guys:Fabricio Werdum, Daniel cormier, Hunt , Barnett or Travis Browne no others. Perhaps Fedor, but that 's impossible.
Winner of Cormier vs Barnett shuld fight JDS.UFC run oth of options Werdum,Big foot lost in SF the second and 3'th best HW are in SF right now
Every event they spend a small fortune on promotion. Bottom line is they will change as little as possible and try to make the card remain in demand.
bring in Jon Jones and give him the ultimate test...
I forgot to mention that , I believe right now nobody meets the requirements to fight as a contender for the belt, , perhaps Mir or Cain but that's not going to happen. So whoever face Junior it shouldn't be for the belt. Upppsss we got into a big mess Alistair boy!!!!!
WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!!!?=, DAM IT!! FU#"%& CONNECTION☻
Though it is unlikely right now, I could see the remote possibility that, given the lack of replacements, and still the idea in many peoples minds that Fedor is the greatest heavyweight of all time, and even though his last two fights were not top talent, he could always come out and say "well, this is what the fans wanted to see all this time, and this is the best replacement fight we could arrange, so here it is, what everyone wanted to see for so long". Even though it is a long shot, I for one would like to see it happen, though Hunt as a replacement is not a bad idea altogether either.
Out of all possible replacements besides Mir or Cain, it would be the biggest draw money-wise, and perhaps even bigger than those too.
Super fight non titel JDS vs Jones
fighters like Jones and Anderson Silva walk on trhe street over 225 they culd fight at HW easely JDS is not that big he is 240b.Balls neded