Alistair Overeem Receives 'Conditional License' For UFC 141 Bout With Brock Lesnar

Alistair Overeem vs. Brock Lesnar appeared to be in jeopardy following rumors that there were issues involving Overeem and a pre-fight drug test requested by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). Today the NSAC held a meeting on which Overeem's license request was discussed.

It turns out that on November 17 a request was made by the NSAC for Overeem and Lesnar to submit to a random out of competition urine test. Lesnar responded within twenty-four hours, saying that he couldn't get to a testing lab but would go to a hospital for a supervised test if the commission would approve, which they did.

As for Overeem, he did not contact the commission back for five days, despite a three day timeline to contact them and submit the sample. He flew out of the country the same day that the test was requested to be with his mother, who is battling cancer. 

Once he did respond to the NSAC, he went to his personal doctor for a blood test, rather than urine. Given that the request was for urine and at a supervised location, not private doctor, the blood test was not considered acceptable by the commission.

It was not until December 7 that Overeem dropped a urine test, but again he went to his private doctor.

This series of events had the commission questioning if they were willing to grant a license for the bout. Overeem was sworn in and said that he was not informed quickly by his assistant and that he felt that he was very expeditious in his handling of the testing once he was informed.

In the end, the commission saw fit to grant Overeem a license on three conditions:

• Overeem must re-submit a fully supervised urine test at a location of the NSAC's choosing within 72 hours.
• He must submit another supervised urine test upon arrival in the United States for the bout.
• He will then be randomly tested over a six month period following UFC 141.

That set-up resulted in Overeem being granted what was called a "conditional license" and it appears that UFC 141's main event remains Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem.