UFC 244 controversy: 5 other major UFC fights that were put into jeopardy by drug tests

#4 UFC 146: Junior Dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem

Junior Dos Santos's UFC 146 meeting with Alistair Overeem was scrapped due to Overeem's elevated testosterone levels

Just five months after defeating Brock Lesnar in his UFC debut – following some pre-fight controversy surrounding his drug tests – Alistair Overeem was handed a shot at the UFC Heavyweight title, as the Dutchman was booked to fight champion Junior Dos Santos in the main event of UFC 146. Unfortunately, Overeem’s issues with drug tests weren’t done just yet.

Around seven weeks before the event, the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that once again, Overeem was in hot water. This time he’d failed a pre-fight drug test for elevated testosterone levels; the Dutchman tested 14:1 for his testosterone-to-epitestosterone ratio – way over the NSAC’s allowed ratio of 6:1.

Overeem attempted to defend himself by stating via a lawyer that he’d unknowingly raised his testosterone levels by using a prescribed anti-inflammatory medication that may have contained testosterone, but even before his case came before the Commission, the UFC pulled him and replaced him with Frank Mir.

In the end, it didn’t matter; the NSAC denied Overeem’s request for a license to fight and prevented him from reapplying for it until December 2012 – some six months after UFC 146. Dos Santos defeated Mir in the main event of the show – and we had to wait until December 2015 for a fight between Overeem and ‘Cigano’.