UFC heavyweight Dave “Pee Wee” Herman was scheduled to fight Mike Russow Oct. 8 at UFC 136 in Houston, however, he was pulled from the card Tuesday after his pre-fight drug screen came back positive for marijuana.
Herman revealed the reason for his removal from the card Tuesday night while a guest on Clinch Gear Radio with hosts Stephen Quadros and Jeff Dotseth. Herman denies any wrongdoing and said after initially taking a drug test on Sept. 15, the lab called back a week later to say they lost his urine sample and he needed to retake the test.
Herman said he went back in and retook the test last week, only to be told Tuesday he had tested positive for marijuana. However, when Herman spoke to the Texas State Athletic Commission, he said they had a different story, “Texas said they never lost it and said the first one was for drugs and the second was for steroids.”
ProMMAnow.com (www.prommanow.com) contacted Herman’s manager, Shu Hirata, for comment, but was told they will issue a statement tomorrow.
It is a big disappointment for Herman, who was scheduled to fight for the first time on a UFC Pay-Per-View. Fans will recall Herman earned “Fight of the Night” honors at UFC 131 for his second round TKO of Jon Olav Einemo.
“Pee Wee” said he felt he was in the best shape of his life for UFC 136, but thinks this setback will give him a chance to get that much better before he does return to the Octagon.
As a result of Herman being pulled from the bout, the preliminary bout between Nam Phan and Leonard Garcia has been moved to the main card. For the full UFC 136 line-up see our Upcoming Events page.