Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for Bacardi
Suspended UFC Heavyweight Alistair Overeem broke his silence two months into his suspension for elevated testosterone levels last night on UFC Tonight. Overeem was scheduled to fight for the UFC HW title against Junior dos Santos at UFC 146 but had to bow out of that fight to start serving his suspension.
Here's what he told UFC Tonight (transcribed by MMA Fighting):
"When I had the positive test result, I didn't know why that was and I didn't want to talk about something that I didn't know about," said Overeem, who was speaking via satellite from Davie, Fla. "By the time we researched it, I had just gotten out of this situation in front of the commission. To avoid, if we were going to do all the questions which come from the media, that's not going to solve the situation, especially if you didn't know where it comes from or what you're talking about.
"I didn't think that was the right thing to do. So we decided to do research, stay quiet, when we did have the research done we went in front of the commission and we explained our side of the story."
He also spoke about UFC president Dana White and explained his new independent drug testing schedule. You can read all that after the jump...
"I have not spoken to Dana personally," he said. "I mean, Dana is a busy man, he's got a company to run and fans to take care of. Basically, I respect Dana, I'm going to convince Dana through my actions I am a legit fighter and do the random tests. I'm very sure that this situation cannot happen again.
"What I want to show the world is that I am a clean fighter, I'll do these tests on my own. One test doesn't say anything. If I do these tests every 3-4 weeks, then you prove to everyone that you are clean, the medical staff is observing you taking the test, so there's no foul play involved. ... What I'm hoping to acheive is that I can prove to the world that I ama clean fighter. I'm doing it for myself as well as for the fans. For me, myself, my fans, for the commission, I am a clean fighter."
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