Without a PED controversy, Overeem would be the perfect superstar for the sport that desperately needs one. The 6-foot-5, 256-pound fighter is a promoter's dream. He's the biggest and most muscular player in the sport; with his small waist, bowling-ball deltoids, and balloon biceps, he looks like everyone's fantasy of a heavyweight champion fighter. But he also has rare charisma and a confidence — some would say arrogance — that inspires both fanatical devotion and hatred.
Which is why most serious fans think that if Overeem is allowed to take down dos Santos it could be nothing short of an abject disaster.
From 1999 to 2006, Overeem had a 10-8 record in Japanese competition, fighting at 205 pounds. The popular claim is that he had to starve to make weight, but in 2007, when he beat Paul Buentello, he had moved up to the heavyweight class and weighed in at 224 pounds. By 2010, he was fighting at 262 pounds, having gained 38 pounds of muscle in three years with no added body fat. No fighter has ever gained that amount of pure muscle in such a short period of time, nor has any fighter moved up a weight class, let alone gained nearly 60 pounds of fighting weight. Eyebrows were immediately raised.
But Overeem has not been replaced in the main event — and speculation is rampant around the industry that Nevada will license him. Those close to the situation have said that Overeem, who has refused all interviews on the subject, will use what is now known as the "TRT" defense. That is, he will have a doctor say that his body is not producing enough testosterone, and thus he has a prescription for the testosterone the test detected. The subject has been a hot-button issue since late 2010, when Chael Sonnen, the no. 1 middleweight contender, failed a similar testosterone test in a championship fight that he lost to Anderson Silva and claimed artificial testosterone was necessary for him to function because of acute hypogonadism.
Yet, through all of this, both Overeem and dos Santos are talking as if the fight is a given.
"If the fight happens, I will fight with pleasure," dos Santos told Globo.com recently in Brazil. "The ratio of testosterone in his body may increase by 30% his strength and aggressiveness, I was told by people who know the subject. It will really be an unfair fight, but as a fighter, I will be ready to face anyone."
Of course, dos Santos is right: Facing someone in MMA on steroids is very different than in other sports. It's one thing when using performance enhancers helps you lift more weights, run faster, or a hit a home run that would otherwise be a fly ball caught in deep center. It's another when it enables a fist to hit a face with far greater power and more easily knock an opponent unconscious. And that's why, if Overeem is allowed to fight, as so many have speculated inside the industry, the biggest black eye won't be on dos Santos, but on the sport itself.