It has been billed as the “Biggest UFC Event in History”. UFC 146, an all heavyweight main card, stacked with the top fighters in the division. Some years ago the proposition of a card that was built upon the heavyweight division would’ve been less than inspiring; however, this division has become one of the most exciting in recent years. The main event of this card is/was meant to be crowned by a tilt between newly minted champ Junior Dos Santos, and former Strikeforce Champion, Alistair Overeem. However, an all too familiar scenario has left a stain on this card, with a positive steroid result from Overeem.
While there has not yet been a definitive cancellation of the main event yet, given that technically Overeem is not a licensed fighter, there is much speculation as to whether or not the main event will proceed as scheduled.
One thing is clear – there will be a title fight at UFC 146, and Junior Do Santos will be the defending champion in that fight… but, who will be on the other end? Below is a list of potential contenders:
- Frank Mir: I think this is the fighter that most are defaulting too right now as substitute, given his recent string of victories, he’s already bearing co-main event status, and I think there are a lot of people out there that want to see Frank with the title again.
- Cain Velasquez: The first match-up between Cain and Dos Santos was underwhelmingly fast, and there were a lot of people who were disappointed in Cain’s performance. Many want to see this re-match in the hopes that Cain can pull it back together.
- Rodrigo Nogueira: There are still those of us out there with a soft spot for Nog, and would like to see him with the strap around his waste again. Maybe a swan song fight?
- Dan Henderson: Hear me out on this one. Hendo has recently fought (and beat) Fedor at HW, and I don’t think anyone can deny that Henderson has tools necessary to win this fight – and when have you ever seen Henderson turn away from a challenge.
- Randy Couture: You never know. As a last minute surprise replacement, maybe Randy will come back to ring… I doubt it, but nothing Randy does surprises me.
Who do I think the best substitute would be? I personally think Mir would be the best replacement, and make for the best fight. Cain needs to re-build some credibility, Nog needs to retire and Dos Santos wouldn’t likely fight his mentor, Hendo is positioned for a title bout at 205lbs… and Randy, it’s just not going to happen.
What do I think is going to happen? I am about 90% sure that Overeem is still going to fight. There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding the failed drug test in which testosterone levels were at a level of 14:1, above the accepted 6:1. However, Overeem is still moving forward with his license application, so he must have some reasoning in his bag of tricks to explain why he failed his test.
For the record, Dana White has said that Mir will not be moving up to the main event, leading me to believe that he believes that Overeem will continue to fight.
I hope we see Overeem fight. He is a monster, and I think a fight between him and Dos Santos would be legendary. In the interim, I’ll be siting on the edge of my seat, hoping that Alistair has some solid legal counsel and a great excuse.
… and that is the last word.
