By Shawn W. Smith
There are a few different stances on testosterone replacement therapy, more commonly referred to as TRT. The first, and arguably most common, is that it should be banned. The second, quickly becoming less common, is that low testosterone is a legitimate medical concern that was brought on through no fault of the athlete.
Fighters have been receiving TRT exemptions since 2007. They began sporadically, first with Dan Henderson receiving one from the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) for his bout with, ironically enough, Vitor Belfort. The next didn’t appear until 2009, when Dennis Hallman received an exemption from the state of Washington.
From there, the floodgates opened. Henderson and Hallman were 36 and 33 respectively when their exemptions were granted. When a 24-year-old Todd Duffee, with his amazing physique and massive power, was granted an exemption in 2010we should have known something was wrong.
From there, it seemed as though every high-level fighter over 30 jumped on the bandwagon. Frank Mir, Forrest Griffin and Chael Sonnen are just some of the main event level fighters who applied and received TRT exemptions.
The NSAC recently made the move to ban all TRT exemptions in the state, which the UFC followed. It is a move the UFC and the NSAC should be applauded for, especially considering the effect it had on an already scheduled bout. Vitor Belfort (perhaps unfairly, perhaps not) become the poster boy for TRT use, and was scheduled to compete against Chris Weidman for the middleweight championship in May. The sudden banning of TRT has forced the UFC to find another opponent in Lyoto Machida.
No one is exactly sure why the NSAC decided now was the right time to ban TRT exemptions. One theory is that a recent ESPN piece brought to light just how rare exemptions are in every other sport. Two of the main pieces of evidence used in the storywere that the International Olympic Committee did not issue any testosterone exemptions for the 2012 London Olympics, which had 5,892 male athletes competing. The other main piece, and perhaps more relevant, is that no professional boxer is ever known to have been granted an exemption, and NSAC suggests that no boxer has even asked for one.
It would be a slight exaggeration to call rampant TRT use an epidemic, but it is clear that this is a major problem in MMA. The hard truth is that most athletes who have low testosterone and therefore feel the need to have a TRT exemption have usedsteroids. It is not the popular opinion, and it certainly is not what we want to hear or discuss about the fighters who are loved worldwide, but it is the truth. In a story for Fightland, Dr. Neil Goodman was quoted as saying “If a young guy comes in with low testosterone, my first thought is this guy’s been taking steroids. And I’m usually right.”
Could some of these athletes have legitimate needs for TRT? Sure, that’s a possibility. Some men are born with a disease which causes low testosterone, and others have it brought in because of a tumor or other series illness such as diabetes. It is not impossible that some athletes have legitimate reasons for a TRT exemption.
What is impossible is that mixed martial arts is the only sport that attracts these athletes. Could one of these athletes have a legitimate case? Sure. Could 15 fighters in MMA have needed TRT since 2007? No, absolutely not.
In the previously mentioned Fightland story, Dr. Goodman went on to say:
“Every single guy whose exemption is getting taken away is going to come up with very low testosterone, and he won’t be able to compete, at least on the level that he might have been competing at. Every guy that goes to the commission and stops getting these exemptions, they’re going to have to get some testosterone to just keep them normal. They won’t be able to compete because their testosterone will just plummet.
Their muscle strength will decline. They’ll put on some fat weight. Their moods will become depressive. They’ll have fatigue. It’ll be horrible—I feel bad for them. It’s going to be misery … I’m not saying all guys are going to have serious problems. It depends on what they’ve been on, how much they’ve been taking, what other drugs they’ve been on. It’s a mixed bag.”
The next few years will bring on interesting times for the sport. With TRT now banned by the NSAC and the UFC, how these athletes perform and if their physical appearance changes will tell us a lot about TRT. Perhaps the true story as to why MMA became so infested with TRT, or why it took this long to become banned will never be told.
In 10 years we will look back on this period and be amazed. When no other sport was allowing exemptions anywhere near the rate that MMA was, numerous main event level fighters were doing whatever they could to further their competitive edge. In the fight game, even the smallest advantage can make a big difference.
I don’t know who to blame, and perhaps we’re past the point of pointing fingers.
I don’t blame the fighters. TRT was a legalized advantage that the commissions were allowing. It’s quite evident now that the commissions had no idea just how to handle the growing issue or how rare exemptions were in other sports.
In the fight for clean and drug-free sports, the TRT ban is a small step in the right direction. With proper funding, whether it comes from the commissions or the UFC, fighter testing should become more random and frequent to weed out any other steroid-like substances fighters may be taking.
But that’s another fight for another day. Let’s celebrate this victory for now.
