After NSAC grills Dave Herman, UFC 162 license depends on clean drug test

The Nevada State Athletic Commission today granted UFC heavyweight Dave Herman (21-5 MMA, 1-3 UFC) a one-fight license to fight Gabriel Gonzaga (14-7 MMA, 9-6 UFC) at UFC 162, but the permission came with strings – and the third degree.

The commission grilled the fighter about a previous marijuana suspension and run-ins with the law before ordering him to be drug tested today at his own expense. The fighter must be clean to get the go-ahead and also is subject to random testing.

“It isn’t just us asking him for his word,” NSAC chair Bill Brady said during a meeting today in Las Vegas, where UFC 162 will take place July 6 at MGM Grand Garden Arena. “I look at it as not what you owe to this commission, but what you owe to the UFC for helping you with your rehab and making commitments to them.

“They put a lot of money into these fights, and if you fail, that’s a difficult situation.”

The UFC reinstated the 28-year-old Herman to fight in April after he completed a 30-day term in rehab, which the promotion ordered after it flagged him for pot following a submission loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 153. The fighter told the NSAC he used marijuana the week of the fight.

It was Herman’s second positive test for marijuana following a positive pre-fight test at UFC 136, which cost him a fight with Mike Russow in October 2011. Explaining that failed test, Herman said he ate a brownie laced with marijuana and had a prescription for the drug in California, where he was living at the time.

In a previous interview with MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), Herman denied using the the drug and blamed his positive test on the smoking habits of his friends.

Commissioners questioned the fighter on whether his stay in rehab had helped him quit using marijuana.

“I’ve been trying to do everything right, and I’ve only been doing it for six months, but I plan to keep doing things right,” Herman said. “Hopefully, you can take my word for it.”

The commission also brought to light a pair of the fighter’s battery charges in 2005 and 2006. Herman was fined a mere $1 for the first, but he spent 15 days in jail and got probation for the second.

Herman’s manager, Shu Hirata, has said the fighter’s next booking is his last chance to make good with the UFC following three straight losses inside the octagon. Yet Herman said today that he’s essentially training himself after moving from Southern California to Lebanon, Tenn.

For more on UFC 162, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.