For those of you keeping an eye on the TRT scoreboard, you can add two names to the list at UFC 164.
Heavyweights Frank Mir and Ben Rothwell, both of whom compete on the main card in Milwaukee next Saturday, have received TRT exemptions leading up the fight.
This isn’t the first time for Mir, who received an exemption for his UFC 146 title fight against Junior dos Santos. Since the fight with dos Santos, Mir also fought Daniel Cormier, which also resulted in a loss for the former heavyweight champion.
As for the Wisconsinite, this is the first confirmed time that Rothwell will receive one. His latest fight was a submission loss to Gabriel Gonzaga.
TRT has been a hot-button issue with the UFC, since men like Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort have brought the issue front and center most times they fought. All three men still use it to this day, though most pundits believe it is a “legal” form of cheating in the sport.
Mir fights UFC returnee Josh Barnett in the co-main event, who will not be getting a TRT exemption despite speculation he might. It is a matchup of grapplers that fans have been waiting on for a long time.
“Big Ben” will meet Brandon Vera, who makes his return to the heavyweight division after a long run at 205. When it was released that Rothwell would receive the TRT exemption, Vera was quoted as saying, “It won’t help.”
TRT will continue to be a hot-button issue moving forward. For now, it will stay legal, until further push for stricter guidelines are put into place. For a guy with a natural ailment like Sonnen, it may be okay, but for a guy with past steroid use like Belfort, it should get the eventual shutdown.
Stay tuned with Bleacher Report for more news on the upcoming UFC 164.
Update: The Wisconsin DSPS did not confirm that the exemptions were for TRT, but it was confirmed that Rothwell applied for some sort of exemption. If there is any new update, it will be posted.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com