ESPN Asks Vitor About TRT, His Answer Is Kind of Vague; Bisping Responds.

Found this on CagePotato (the best site after WatchKalibRun went down), here's the link to the original article (http://espn.go.com/blog/mma/post/_/id/15993/ageless-belfort-believes-hell-overcome-bisping)


This is the quote highlighted by CagePotato:


ESPN: Some fighters in their 30s have been diagnosed with low testosterone levels and received exemptions to use testosterone replacement therapy [TRT]. Have you ever applied for TRT or would you consider it?

Belfort: If a question is private, I have the choice to answer or not. If I make it public, it’s not private anymore. If I want to say something private I will say it, but I keep to myself and I respect the laws of the sport. Whatever the organization, whatever the law -- they know what to do. This is too controversial, why am I going to say something that doesn’t accomplish anything? If it’s legal, they know what to do. If it’s legal, there’s nothing to say about it. It’s legal.


What do you guys think? It seems like so far the guys who have gotten the therapeutic use exemption have all been from U.S. (Sonnen, Griffin, Mir, Duffee, Hendo), is Vitor the first Brazilian to do it?

Lastly, I'm not trying to stir up controversy, and I honestly don't think that it's going to affect the outcome of the fight if Vitor is on TRT (which is just speculation). I just found this interesting and wanted to share.

EDIT: Here's Bisping's response:

It seems that Bisping has offered his opinion on Belfort's (alleged) TRT use (from http://www.bjpenn.com/bisping-belforts-a-cheat-who-wins-with-punches-behind-the-head-ufc-news/):



“I was disappointed Vitor Belfort started talking in tongues when asked about TRT recently. He had a little more to say on Monday when he was asked directly about my concerns that all his recent UFC fights were won by illegal punches to the back of the head. In between lengthy references to the New Testament, Belfort basically said he doesn’t care if he hits opponents behind the head. How he’s gotten away with this in his career is a mystery to me, and I hope we have a strong referee who has the balls to do something about it – if it happens – with thousands of Belfort supporters screaming in the stands. And of course it is down to me to make sure I’m not put in a position where he can unload these kinds of shots. Vitor has one or two rounds to beat me – or try to hit me behind the head – and then his gas tank will be empty and the fight will look like that Rocky vs. that dead cow.”

I highlighted the part I found most interesting - this is getting heated.

 

yeah it seems likely that he's on TRT.

 

It private unless it's unprivate in which case he wouldn't have to answer because the knowledge would already be public.

 

He was popped for steroids in 2006. Of course, he did offer the tried and true, "I took it unknowingly" excuse.

I would not be surprised if he's using TRT (or any other type of enhancement.)

 

If he wasn't on TRT, his answer would have been a lot shorter.

 

Remember when Frank Mir was asked about his opinion on TRT prior to JDS fight?

 

Edited my OP to reflect Bisping's response, as was suggested by fellow Sherdoggers.

 

The UFC 152 TRT exemption has still not been made public and MMA journalists have asked about it and the UFC won't say.

 

Gee what an incredible surprise. I know everyone was really confused who could have possibly been the lone TUE from the last UFC in Brazil. Very trivial.

But seriously let me explain how this works...

Unless the media instructs everyone to be upset, not many will subscribe to the outrage.

There are some hilarious things to come out of this (besides the difference in fan reaction compared to others who are on TRT)....

Jon Jones complained how unfair it is to be fighting someone on TRT, how they shouldn't be allowed to compete, and how dishonorable they were. He explained this is one of the reasons he didn't want to fight Chael. So instead of fighting Chael? he decided to fight someone who was........ on TRT. And he even went onto explain what an honorable guy Vitor is.

I just can't wait until Bisping catches word of this. God it's really going to be good.

 

You just fucked my mind bro.

 

Not saying he never juiced or is a juicer, everyone has his opinion on that.

But Vitor got tested positive for a very weak "steroid" and was actually one of the only fighters who sent his supplement to the NSAC and they actually found the steroid in it. That's more than most other excuse makers, at least his was legit.

The back of the head talk also needs to stop. Franklin fight was OK (according to the rules, BJM...) and the Akiyama fight was bad. Hendo dropped two H-Bombs to the back of Fedor's head. Cormier did it. Tons of fighters do it.

 

You don't have to because it's common knowledge that he's admitted to steroid use back in the early days of MMA.

 

Heard that but never seen the interview. I mean it was pretty obvious anyways and not just early in his career. (I'm a huge Vitor nuthugger btw)

 

Belfort shouldn't be allowed to use TRT, I thought in order to get a TUE you needed to have never tested positive for steroid use? If not, the system is an even bigger joke than I previously thought.

 

Simple remedy in my opinion - ban the use of TRT. No exceptions. If you can't compete at a high level in combat sports without TRT you certainly have no business being in the Octagon.

If it's legal and you're in the twilight of your career? You'd be a fool NOT to use it since your competition is probably doing so.

 

That was the alcohol

 

If he's on TRT but the commission says it is okay, then Bisping has no right whatsoever so whine about it..

 

Cheaters gonna cheat. Hope Bisping knocks his head off