Challenge intriguing for Postma
Amateur mixed martial arts events often are filled with young competitors who have dreams of becoming rich and famous, or who are just putting off real life for as long as possible.
That description doesn’t fit 35-year-old Carl Postma, who defended his Tuff-N-Uff heavyweight title Saturday at the South Point by submitting David Sands in less than a minute to improve to 3-0.
The 1993 Moapa Valley High graduate, who played defensive end at UNR, will now weigh his options. Postma likely will sign a professional contract after spending a week on vacation with his family in the mountains.
Postma doesn’t need to fight professionally, though he jokes that “everybody in construction is hungry right now.” Postma owns a stake in ArCon Flooring, where he worked his way through the ranks before getting the opportunity to buy 50 percent of the company.
To him, competing in MMA is all about the fun and the challenge.
Postma was practicing jiu-jitsu as a way of staying in shape a few years ago when UFC star Stephan Bonnar came into the gym, and Postma rolled with Bonnar as he prepared for a fight against Jon Jones. The encounter helped spark Postma’s interest in taking the sport more seriously.
“My goal at this point is to have fun. I wanted to do a few amateur fights, and that has gone well and things have opened up for me,” he said. “I just want to see how far I can go as a pro, whether it’s three fights, five fights, 10 fights, whatever. I just want to have some fun with it.
“I got a good couple years in me. I can do something.”
■ OVEREEM LICENSING HEARING — Despite an out-of-competition drug test by the Nevada Athletic Commission that showed elevated testosterone levels in Alistair Overeem’s system, the Ultimate Fighting Championship filed a license application for the heavyweight in hopes he can still fight Junior dos Santos for the title May 26 at the MGM Grand.
Overeem’s licensing hearing will take place at the commission’s April 24 meeting. Should he be denied, Overeem would be barred from reapplying for one year.
The “A” sample provided by Overeem in late March showed a testosterone-to-epitestosterone (T/E) ratio of 14-1, well over the NAC’s acceptable limit of 6-1.
Overeem had the right to request the “B” sample be tested, but hasn’t done so.
UFC president Dana White, who reacted furiously to news of Overeem’s test results, will not make any decision on the main event of UFC 146 until Overeem’s fate is finalized.
“Junior dos Santos will defend his UFC heavyweight title in the main event of a stacked UFC 146 card on May 26,” White said. “The only question is will he be fighting Alistair Overeem, and that’s for the commission to decide.”
■ UFC ON FUEL 2 — The second UFC event to be televised live on Fuel TV (Cox 319) is Saturday in Stockholm.
Swedish native Alexander Gustafsson will headline the event with a light heavyweight bout against Thiago Silva, who returns from a layoff of more than a year due to a suspension for submitting a fake urine sample after a fight in January 2011.
The event will air live locally at noon, with the preliminary card streaming live on Facebook, beginning at 9:30 a.m.
■ POKER STAR — UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is still recovering from surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament, but he plans to play in this summer’s World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.
St. Pierre signed a promotional deal with 888 Poker. He said the partnership will help raise money for his charity.
Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.
