Dana White has "nothing but respect" for Alistair Overeem after UFC 148 meeting
Posted on July 8, 2012, 06:01 PM by Mike DrahotaAlistair Overeem, the man who was set to face Junior dos Santos at UFC 146, is back in the good graces of UFC President Dana White. Overeem, suspended until late December for his well-documented drug screen failure, had been publicly disparaged by the always outspoken White. When Overeem had recently taken to Twitter with his well-known intentions of fighting at the UFC's annual year-end show, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta was quick to put any of these rumors to rest until the NSAC had cleared Overeem to fight. White was reported to be out of all dealings with Overeem, supposedly disgusted by the dishonesty he felt Overeem had fed him. However, the day after UFC 148, news to the contrary has arisen. Apparently Overeem and White met with another last night to bury the proverbial hatchet, and White was quoted with the following:
"Nothing but respect for Alistair now. We all make mistakes and we all do stupid s--t. I say this all the time. It’s all in how you handle yourself after. He went downstairs and waited for forty minutes until I called him upstairs, and then came into my office like a man.” via MMAFighting.com
There is no doubt that Overeem could be a huge draw in the Heavyweight division if he can stay clean and able to fight with assurance. For now, it appears he has owned up to his past mistakes and is going to lengths in order to repair the damage done with his employer. White shows that he is willing to forgive if a fighter makes some changes in a positive light. He continued on:
"He’s doing all the right things now. He’s fixing all the wrongs. We’ll see what happens."
While Overeem does not have a fight date on the horizon as of yet as he awaits the decision of the NSAC regarding his suspension, he is putting all of the pieces in place to do so should he be immediately reinstated. Current UFC Heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos recently said tat he is unsure of his next opponent and fight date, although it has been rumored to be a rematch with Cain Velasquez. Will Alistair Overeem rule the Heavyweight division of the UFC anytime soon?
Further Reading: Alistair Overeem breaks silence, says he is clean
Comments
Nothing but respect ?
Didn't Dana say Reem is a liar and wants nothing to do with him ?
Now Dana is doing his own 360 in the cage.
I think you meant 180
If Reem takes a drug test every month for a couple years then I will be happy.
PENIS
Hilarious David. I agree. I want to Do Sharp, Cool, and Funny all in one.
I wanted to give that a "funny" and a "sharp"
It's all good just have a guy tug his shorts a couple of times and 99.9% of the kids on the special bus will forget his name was ever associated with steroids:p
Love him or hate him, Alistair Overeem will be the UFC HW champ by the end of 2013.
I like him. I just don't think he can take too many punches. If he can kick his way through some of Juniors punches then I say yes. He is going to have to eat some punches for sure. If he can't he loses.
Say what you want about Roy Nelson, Junior couldn't knock him out.
I don't know. Overeems defence is pretty tight. I see most of Junior's punches landing on hands and forearms. That said it really only takes one punch from JDS. As for Roy though, Junior may not have been able to rock him but Arlovski did. I think that under the right circumstances both JDS and Overeem could finish Roy.
Nope - Anderson Silva
Hopefully he amends his ways and as we all know Dana might go back on his own word but he doesn't take anyone's crap - most likely Reem is doing the right things to get back on track.
I've heard of fights where after a fight where the other combatant was found to be taking steroids the fight was over turned into a No contest. Why didn't this happen with Lesnar and Overeem?
Because Overeem tested clean after the Lesnar fight. He was caught in a surprise drug screening they administered at a press conference with some of the fighters for UFC 146. You can speculate and assume he had just cycled for the Lesnar fight, but he tested clean, so it's legit.
Thanx for the info.
i think its pretty clear to most true mma enthusiasts that the Reem will dominate the HW division for a long long time. Dana knows this and its best if they are on the same page so they can make money. As a Reem fan i was also very upset and disappointed in his judgement with this whole "medication" thing, but i think most people are misunderstanding the facts. whether or not Alistair has ever done steroids is a different issue, but what he got in trouble for was not steroids. it was an elevated testosterone level. he will be clean from here on. as a professional he must. get ready for the next dominant champ.
overreem cant take a punsh. i dont see him winning against jds. and even velasquez will be hard to beat for him. BUT, im watching him since he is competing in k1 and i like him. so i wish him all the best and maybe he can prove me wrong.
EVEN Velasquez ? seriously the guys a beast don't let that loss JDS fool you
"Nothing but respect for Alistair now. We all make mistakes and we all do stupid s--t. I say this all the time. It’s all in how you handle yourself after. He went downstairs and waited for forty minutes until I called him upstairs, and then came into my office like a man.”
Haha Overeem waited for 40 minutes... and now he is Danas hero.
Im pretty sure Alistair ate some ****ing horse meat in that time.
"He’s doing all the right things now. He’s fixing all the wrongs. We’ll see what happens."
What the hell does that mean? He stops taking roids and starts eating even more horse meat?
Just admit that he is a hell of a draw and thats about it! gosh...
Alistair is a real brutish presence in the cage but he is terrible off his back and simply has no chance of matching the speed of JDS....Brock Lesnar was never known for his speed and was easy for the Reem to catch.
I feel that Jds ,Cain , Carwin , Mir , Miocic and even Nelson would be too much for him to handle.
I have the feeling that Overeem is going to be the Heavyweight Champion for a long time, if he handles it to stay clean.
The only threat i see for him is Dos Santos cause of his power+speed and maybe Valesquez cause of his sick wrestling.
I agree with you but...Brock was known for his explosive takedowns and ground and pound so he did have some aspect of speed maybe not boxing, but on top of that lets be real here Brock has never been the same after his battle with his illness....he should've just retired with the belt when he came down with it in the first place the reem/lesnar fight was not a lopsided victory imo they were going back and forth and reem hit him in the lower abdomen and dropped him...hmm let’s see he had surgery there where they removed over 18 inches of intestines...THATS INSANE!!! Brock didn't belong in the cage after all that....hats off to him because that would have killed any normal man.
I would have nothing but respect too if I'm with Overeem in a room after i called him all sorts of name..
DW has nothing but respect for $$$'s Reem can still bring in..
Most accurate post award +10
Sounds like Dana is Lorenzo's bichhhh. Dana knows not to bite the hand that feeds him.
oh common, keyboard warrior. what are u talking?
Money talks.
Send this animal back to the jungle.