Reem makes statement "To my friends and fans"

GDPofDRC wrote:

I have an impartial perspective, I have not stated he is innocent or guilty. What is documented is his tested T/E levels were over the budgets amount, not the naming any banned substance. "logical to assume"... Assumptions are the singular reason that guilt is your only conclusion. That's not good.

Those assumptions are based on solid evidence over time. It looks very very bad when someone who has been accused of using roids for years, by a wide number of people, is caught with an illegal substance. Which is documented and acknowledged by Reem. He admitted a substance he took contained an illegal substance. He is not denying that only trying to claim ignorance. But when a fighter who has been suspected of using for years now is busted for elevated levels during a random test. It looks very very bad. Shit before we had any kind of solid evidence like this the question was out there everywhere. Everyone asked the question for a reason. Things are stacked against Reem here. I'm far more comfortable believing what everyone else has believed for years. This man is a cheater. Evidence strongly points that direction. That much is undeniable.

GDPofDRC wrote:

OU wrote:

We already have an admission from Reem that he took an illegal substance. I can't imagine anyone thinking this is the first time in his career he has taken an illegal substance. I don't see how you can justify that line of thinking. If you are being honest with yourself you know this man is more then likely a cheater. But if you want to take comfort in the fact that we can't prove it without a doubt, then ignorance is bliss I suppose.

You more than anyone here hangs first and asks no questions later on things like this, so calling me ignorant for not basing my conclusions, which I have not yet established, on mere assumptions, well, that does nothing for me.

You are choosing ignorance despite strong evidence to the contrary. IMO you are with holding judgement out of optimism. But again logic would suggest this man is a cheater.

I have no problem with people using steroids outside of sports. Just like I dont have a problem with people smoking pot. GDP is trying way too hard to defend Overeem. Reem is a cheater. Didnt want him in the UFC to begin with, definitely do not now.

jewzilla wrote:

I have no problem with people using steroids outside of sports. Just like I dont have a problem with people smoking pot. GDP is trying way too hard to defend Overeem. Reem is a cheater. Didnt want him in the UFC to begin with, definitely do not now.

I don't think he has attempted to defend Reem. I just think he is being too PC with his line of thinking on the subject and that is going against the logic of this situation. Also cheating while training is still cheating. Just like taking substances in baseball just to heal from injury quicker is cheating.

Reem vs JDS was one of my top 3 fights I wanted to see. It's even on here somewhere on my wishlist of fights from before. Even though before we all had resonable expectations that Reem was cheating it was nothing more then strong suspicions. Now he has been caught using an illegal substance. The past claims have been justified IMO.

I prefer not to brandish my torch and pitchfork on the basis of speculation. Overeem is guilty of being out of conformity with the T/E amounts budgeted by the NSAC, not because of years of gossip and hearsay, but because it is a verified fact. That can be strewed to be a cheat. If we want to talk about logic and common sense though, then I consider intent of such actions and the existing nature of circumstance.

When I say outside of sports I mean someone who is not an athlete at all. Also JDS vs. Reem would have been a badass fight but I still did not want him around. He is a black eye for American MMA. He can take his cheating back to dream and hulk smash James Thompson.

GDPofDRC wrote:

I prefer not to brandish my torch and pitchfork on the basis of speculation. Overeem is guilty of being out of conformity with the T/E amounts budgeted by the NSAC, not because of years of gossip and hearsay, but because it is a verified fact. That can be strewed to be a cheat. If we want to talk about logic and common sense though, then I consider intent of such actions and the existing nature of circumstance.

Just sounds like denial to me. Looks like you are looking/hoping for some excuse. You brush off suspicions as merely hearsay but these recent events have given some kind of creditability to that. Overeem is guilty of taking an illegal substance, he has admitted as much. The current claim is he didn't know better. But fact remains he was caught with elevated T/E levels by a random drug test and today's statement from Reem acknowledges that he took something that contained an illegal substance. You can absolutely factor in past allegations and concerns. Why would anyone omit that from their line of thinking on this subject? I wish Reem was clean so he could have been in an exiciting HW standup battle before he went to sleep. I personally think Reem would still lose even if continued what I believed to be his cheating ways. However he was caught, he deserves to be punished and if you refuse to connect this event with past speculation I think you are being too optimistic.

Sorry, but I won't be choosing to abandon rationality anytime soon. All there is too it.

GDPofDRC wrote:

Sorry, but I won't be choosing to abandon rationality anytime soon. All there is too it.

Any rational person would acknowledge there is a greater probability he is cheater then not.

You have a surprising irrational/stubborn/optimistic view on Reem. Can't beleive anyone would attempt to defend him or refuse to beleive he is more then likely a cheater and has been for some time.

OU wrote:

You have a surprising irrational/stubborn/optimistic view on Reem. Can't beleive anyone would attempt to defend him or refuse to beleive he is more then likely a cheater and has been for some time.

Tell me more about rational decisions.

GDPofDRC wrote:

jewzilla wrote:

Could someone find what exactly he was injected with that was anti-inflammatory/testosterone? Never heard of such combo.

Anti-inflammatory medications are generally steroids, in general, unless they are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

anti inflammatory medications are corti-steroids they are catabolic in nature, if anything they will decrease muscle mass

anabolic steroids keep nitrogen balance positive building and recovering

testosterone is anabolic

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/4/24/2971161/ufc-146-alistair-overeem-testosterone-inflammatory-nsac
Over at MMA Junkie, Dr. Johnny Benjamin was asked about the excuse and if it held water. His response was basically "no":

Quote :

It is not uncommon for injured contact- or combat-sports athletes to require anti-inflammatory injections during their training. These injections usually consist of a short-acting anesthetic (lidocaine, xylocaine or marcaine) plus a glucocorticoid (cortisone). This injection immediately numbs the injury, and the cortisone provides longer lasting anti-inflammatory properties.

These injections are legal but must be disclosed on any and all pre-competition or random-screening paperwork.

Cortisone is a glucocorticoid steroid, which is much different than an anabolic steroid such as testosterone (T) and many of the synthetic performance-enhancing drugs (PED) with which the sporting world is unfortunately all too familiar.

Dr. Benjamin goes on to explain that testosterone is never included in these shots and, if it was, then Overeem has a duty to report the doctor who injected him and file charges with law enforcement for injecting it without the fighter's knowledge.
http://mmajunkie.com/news/28401/ask-the-fight-doc-what-do-you-make-of-alistair-overeems-excuse-for-failed-test.mma

OU i said that you hillbilly!

now pull your skinny jeans over your ass and buy a bigger tapout T

Funny timing. Went to Dr. today and I have strep throat. They gave me prednisone for swelling. I'm on roids!

what a freakin' horrible argument they made to the commission

pretty much blamed the doc. for not telling Overeem that the "shot" he received for his injuries had testosterone in it.

they are not going to grant him a licence but he can reapply in 9 months

if reem is truly innocent then he would be pressing charges against the doc that juiced him up.

turns out the doc has a list of criminal activity as well, including supplying PEDS

Another clear display of the barriers between the regulatory field, the medical field and the fighters who are at the mercy of their imbalance.

GDPofDRC wrote:

Another clear display of the barriers between the regulatory field, the medical field and the fighters who are at the mercy of their imbalance.

You sound like you are part of Reem's legal or PR team. That has to be the most optimistic spin on Reem's situation possible.

First comes my disclaimer for this post. I'm only posting this because it is content on this subject. I do not take Dana at his word EVER! So even on an issue like this, I don't buy into anything Dana says.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2012/4/25/2974806/ufc-interview-dana-white-jim-rome-alistair-overeem-lied-to-me
Jim Rome: Dana Alistair Overeem failed a random drug test for elevated testosterone last month. The Nevada State Athletic Commission suspended him for 9 months. What was your reaction when you first heard it?

Dana White:Actually I didn't hear it until you just told me right this second.

Rome: You don't know that story?

White: I'm in Los Angeles. I was in Brazil yesterday with Anderson Silva. I landed at 4 in the morning. I flew like 22 hours yesterday. I flew down to Miami and then to Rio and back to L.A. So it's the first I'd heard that. I knew he was going before the Commission but I didn't know what happened.

Rome: So what is your reaction to that?

White: I wasn't very optimistic about his chances. I didn't think things were going to turn out very well for him. So as expected. 9 months? 9 months isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Rome: What did you expect?

White: I thought he'd get a year, easily a year.

Rome: So he blamed it on elevated levels of anti-inflammatory meds he was taking at the time.

White: Here's the rules. If that's the case, if he was on anti-inflammatories meds, whatever the deal was, you're supposed to disclose that to the commission before the test whatever you're taking. You're supposed to disclose that to the commission before the test not after the test.

Rome: Am I allowed to say this Dana? It sounds like garbage.

White: I'm not a fan. I'm not a fan at all. You're not going to hear me on your radio show defending Alistair Overeem believe me.

Rome: So is that going to cost him his spot with your company?

White: I don't know. We'll see. We'll see what happens man. You know he went before the commission and the commission gave him 9 months. I'm sure he's going to have to go in and get tested again. Before he went in there he sat down to lunch with me and my partner looked us in the face and said 'I'm the most tested athlete in all of sports they can test me whenever they want to." Well he flew in for the press conference, they tested him and now he's on a 9 month suspension.

Rome: Do you feel he lied to you?

White: I do yea. I know he lied to me.

Rome: I'm guessing you don't like guys lying to you Dana.

White: I don't like it. You know you sit down and you have these guys that you do business with and you say let's sit down, be honest with me and let's figure out how we can work together. And then they sit there and lie to your face. I don't know. Not the kind of guys I want to do business with.

Rome: He may have been the most tested athletes in your sport but now he's one of the most suspended athletes in your sport.

White: Yeah. So we'll see what happens. I've been on the road non-stop. I just got into L.A. and I get into Vegas tonight. I don't really know the full story of what went down but we'll figure out what happens from here.

Assuming Dana is telling the truth(which we really, in good conscience, can't do), I like that he's not making up anything. He hit it on the head with that "you're supposed to disclose that BEFORE something comes up, not after". I am getting tired of all these guys popping and then being like "oh I must have taken something that had steroids in it" when they get a fucking questionnaire before even submitting the piss test that asks what they are taking as far as medications or supplements.

I wonder why Nevada brought it down to nine months.

I don't think Overeem will be cut.