By Darryl Rigby
Hallelujah! At long last, way overdue, somebody has finally displayed some sense over a subject that has descended into a complete and utter farce: TRT
For those who’re unsure what TRT is, it stands for Testosterone Replacement Therapy and under current legislation MMA fighters with low levels of testosterone apply for, and are usually granted, a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemption) which is permission to supplement this shortfall with injections of testosterone.
It’s basically a legal, above-board use of steroids.
Until now the subject has been a prickly one, and not simply due to the syringes involved! UFC President Dana White has been vocal in his disapproval in the past, saying: “TRT is legal. I told you guys that I don’t like it, there’s people out there that are cheating on it and I’m going to do everything I can to lobby against TRT and see if we can get athletic commissions to change their position on it”. But with permission granted by the commissions as opposed to the UFC, this rendered the opinion of the promoters irrelevant.
However, after a profusion of debate over the topic following Antonio Silva’s recent test fail, and the curious resurgence of 36 year old Vitor Belfort (pictured), whose explosive revival in which he brutally KO’d his last 3 opponents suspiciously coincides with his use of TRT, it appears at least somebody, somewhere, is taking the safety of fighters and the entity of a level playing field seriously.
On Monday the Association of Ringside Physicians released a statement calling for the “general elimination” of the use of TRT. The statement read: The incidence of hypogonadism requiring the use of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) in professional athletes is extraordinarily rare. Accordingly, the use of an anabolic steroid such as testosterone in a professional boxer or mixed martial artist is rarely justified. Steroid use of any type, including unmerited testosterone, significantly increases the safety and health risk to combat sports athletes and their opponents. TRT in a combat sports athlete may also create an unfair advantage contradictory to the integrity of sport. Consequently, the Association of Ringside Physicians supports the general elimination of therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) for testosterone replacement therapy.”
Hopefully this statement is the first step towards an outright ban and lets hope this ludicrous exemption is outlawed before Belfort challenges Chris Weidman for the Middleweight title, although ‘The Phenom’ is yet to receive clearance outside of Brazil so this may yet prove immaterial.
As ever, Dana White was on hand to offer his opinion after the statement was released: “The doctors came out and said they want to ban it? Well, that’s the answer. It’s legal in the sport. The commissions let you do it. You get an exemption, and you have to be monitored and all the stuff that’s going on, but if they’re going to do away with it? There you go. It’s a problem solved.”
How MMA has found itself in this position in the first place is completely bemusing. One would suspect the last sport on earth, regardless of medical mitigation, to sanction the use of performance enhancing testosterone injections that increase power, strength and speed would be one in which elite athletes attempt to knock each other unconscious. It does make you wonder who are making these primary decisions and whether they are equipped with the required knowledge to do so competently.
Though the statement mentioned the rarity of testosterone deficiency in athletes, it neglected to mention why so many MMA fighters have low levels of the hormone. Steroid abuse, which was far more prevalent in the earlier years of the sport, affects the body’s natural ability to produce testosterone and once the anabolic injections cease, over time the body’s level of testosterone will plummet. While this isn’t to say that every fighter that has applied for TRT exemption has abused steroids, we can be almost certain that at least some have.
With this in mind it seems absurd that these athletes are prescribed such an obvious advantage, especially when the reason for some of the fighters needing the treatment is due to previous acts of cheating, and the sooner this practice is ended the better.
However, in the event that he’s granted an exemption, one Vitor Belfort might just hope the saga rumbles on a little longer.
