In a perfect world this would be a UFC 151 preview of Bones vs Hendo. Instead, one bum knee and a fight cancellation later we’ll get a UFC Light Heavyweight matchup between Vitor Belfort and Jon Jones.Jones will enter the Octagon on the 22nd …
In a perfect world this would be a UFC 151 preview of Bones vs Hendo. Instead, one bum knee and a fight cancellation later we’ll get a UFC Light Heavyweight matchup between Vitor Belfort and Jon Jones.
Jones will enter the Octagon on the 22nd a huge favorite. But does that mean Vitor doesn’t have a puncher’s chance of winning? Of course not.
In the past six years, Vitor has only three losses coming at the hands of Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson and Alistair Overeerm. So needless to say, the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion will give the incumbent all he can handle.
Let’s look at how they stack up against each other.
Depending on who you talk to, Testosterone Replacement Therapy is either a miracle treatment or blatant cheating. But just what is the truth about TRT?Michael Bisping recently addressed TRT in an interview, telling Mauro Ranallo on the MMA Show:A guy t…
Depending on who you talk to, Testosterone Replacement Therapy is either a miracle treatment or blatant cheating. But just what is the truth about TRT?
Michael Bisping recently addressed TRT in an interview, telling Mauro Ranallo on the MMA Show:
A guy that is 40 years old doesn’t make as much testosterone as a 21-year-old so he gets an exemption certificate to say, ‘So now we will give him as much testosterone as a 21-year-old.’ Well what about me, I’m 33, I’m not making the same amount as a 21-year-old but I make more than a 40-year-old, where do we draw the line? It’s nonsense. Listen, nature determines that and I don’t think we should interfere with that. I think it’s cheating very, very well dressed up. It’s nonsense, it’s absolute bulls*** and I for one am very, very against it.
Earlier in July, Former Middleweight Chael Sonnen had his own take on TRT in an interview with the LA Times (h/t fightersonlymag.com). When asked about his reasons for needing the treatments Sonnen said, “I don’t have an option. I either take this medicine or die. I’m not asking if I can take it. It’s up to them to let me take it. It’s a substance that’s often abused, and I deal with taking it in shame. But a blood test can clear you, and show I take the appropriate amount.”
So who’s right?
First thing to understand is what causes low testosterone and the effects. Testosterone is produced by the testes and naturally men over the age of 30 lose on average one percent of testosterone annually. Low testosterone can result in reduced muscle mass and strength, decreased bone density, as well as increased body fat.
To a more serious degree, another cause of low testosterone is Hypogonadism. Hypogonadism is when the sex glands produce little or no hormones, including testosterone. You can be born with it or develop it later in life from infection or injury.
In an 18 year study done by The Endocrine Society funded by the American Heart Association stated that men over 50 have a 33 percent greater risk of death if they have low testosterone. Hypogonadism affects an estimated four to five million men in the United States which equates to approximately 3.62 percent of all men in the country. With 350 fighters in the UFC, it’s safe to say that around 13 of the fighters on the roster suffer from Hypogonadism.
Lastly, past use of anabolic steroids can lead to low testosterone levels. Side effects of anabolic steroids include reduced sperm count and shrinking of the testicles. Needless to say, this drastically can effect testosterone levels.
With that said, the main problem with TRT in MMA is the way it’s regulated. In every male there’s a certain ratio of the hormones testosterone to epitestosterone that are produced on a daily basis. Usually this ratio rarely goes above 4:1. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, anything higher than these levels can indicate possible doping. The Nevada State Athletic Commission currently allows up to a 6:1 ratio during testing.
The problem is that right now there’s no way of truly knowing why an individual suffers from having low testosterone. It could be any of the above reasons. So in essence, a former steroid user can actually benefit from his past usage by possibly securing a Therapeutic Use Exemption from the NSAC. So it should be an all or nothing approach to TRT. As long as only a select few use it, there are certain advantages that will exist to the TRT user that’s not afforded to someone who is all natural.
In a sport where it’s one-on-one and every advantage possible is taken, the Nevada State Athletic Commission should get together and either ban TRT across the board or allow it for anyone who wants it, granted they stay in a certain range. No one should be afforded an unfair advantage in this sport. So, make it all or nothing. The ball is in your court NSAC.
Jake Shields makes his return to the middleweight division against Ed Herman. If you haven’t heard of Ed Herman before, he’s sure to leave a lasting impression inside the Octagon.Shields is coming in fresh off of a win against Yoshihiro Akiyama at welt…
Jake Shields makes his return to the middleweight division against Ed Herman. If you haven’t heard of Ed Herman before, he’s sure to leave a lasting impression inside the Octagon.
Shields is coming in fresh off of a win against Yoshihiro Akiyama at welterweight in a fight where he put his grappling prowess on display. He’s back at middleweight where he last held a title in Strikeforce. Herman is riding a three fight win streak into this one and is looking to put himself into title contention with a big win over his most dangerous opponent yet.
So on paper who has the edge? And who’s the smart money on to win this fight? In this slideshow we’ll tackle those questions and get you ready for Jake Shields vs Ed Herman.
In what’s on paper one of the more lopsided main events in recent history, Shogun Rua will fight Brandon Vera to secure a Championship shot.Dana White has recently come out and said the winner of this fight will next contend for the Championship….
In what’s on paper one of the more lopsided main events in recent history, Shogun Rua will fight Brandon Vera to secure a Championship shot.
Dana White has recently come out and said the winner of this fight will next contend for the Championship.
Don’t be fooled. That’s just Dana’s way of trying to sell a fight.
If Brandon Vera somehow wins this one, there’s no way he’ll be next to fight for the Championship. This is Dana’s way of saying that they have full confidence in Shogun Rua to not only win against Vera, but to make it look easy.
This is a fight, however, and in the Octagon, anything can happen.
So let’s take a look at this fight and see who truly holds the advantage on paper going in.
Greg Jackson’s Gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico has been a breeding ground for some of the greatest fighters in MMA today. Greg has won awards for Best Gym, Best Coach and Coach of the Year. But like they say, sometimes your reputation preceeds you. As g…
Greg Jackson’s Gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico has been a breeding ground for some of the greatest fighters in MMA today.
Greg has won awards for Best Gym, Best Coach and Coach of the Year.
But like they say, sometimes your reputation preceeds you. As great of a coach as he is, some of Greg Jackson’s fighters have recently turned into cronic game planners. Natural born killers made into guys who run from the opposition and poke with jabs and leg kicks.
Some even go as far as to say that pushing his fighters to follow strict “fight not to lose” game plans is boring and hurt the sport of MMA as a whole.
But there are at least 10 guys who can’t call boring that are under the MMA guru.
The top two in the world. The elusive matchup. Two men making every excuse not to fight each other. I’m not talking about Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. I’m talking about Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones. When it comes to Super Fights thi…
The top two in the world. The elusive matchup. Two men making every excuse not to fight each other. I’m not talking about Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao. I’m talking about Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones.
When it comes to Super Fights this day and age, only one MMA fight can come close to matching the hype of Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao. That fight is Anderson Silva vs. Jon Jones. With all due respect to Georges St-Pierre, this fight is No. 1 vs. No 2. The best vs. the best. The unstoppable force vs. the immovable object. However, with these two, it isn’t PPV splits and PED testing procedures that have to be worked out. They just simply refuse to fight each other.
It’s rare in combat sports that you have two dominant, seemingly unstoppable fighters at the same time that fight near the same weight.
Jones has run through everyone that the UFC has placed in front of him. In his last four fights alone, he’s baffled and destroyed former UFC Champions in a division that many call the most stacked division in the UFC. His championship run has been what legends are made of. Rarely even challenged through his dominant championship fights.
Compare that to longevity. Silva has been nothing short of amazing with the most consecutive UFC title defenses (10) and longest win streak in UFC history (15). Throughout these wins, he’s had spectacular highlight finishes and even an improbable comeback. Watching Silva fight is like watching the Bruce Lee of our time. A must-see spectacle. Whether it’s a front-kick KO or a perfectly placed running knee to the body of a downed opponent, you’ll see something special.
Now, there are detractors out there who’d tell you that the size difference is too great. That Jon Jones is just too big for Silva. Well, let’s explore that. Anderson Silva has been in 15 UFC fights. Of those fights, 11 of those were against men who’ve competed in the Light Heavyweight division.
Jon Jones’ next title defense is against Dan Henderson. Silva is three inches taller and has a 6.5-inch reach advantage over Henderson. Silva also walks around at 215-225 and cuts an insane amount of weight to get down to 185. Henderson, on the other hand, weighed in for a heavyweight fight at 207.
Jones walks around at 225-230, which is right on par with Silva’s. Now, of course, Jones will enjoy a hefty reach advantage, but look deeper and you’ll find that out of 12 UFC fights, “Bones” will have only faced two men with a longer reach than “The Spider.”
So with that said, Anderson Silva is naturally a bigger fighter than the current No. 1 contender for the Light Heavyweight Championship, and longer than anybody Jones has faced in over two years.
So this fight needs to happen. Not only because it will pair two of the most dominant fighters of right now, but it could very well determine who’s the greatest of all-time. Twenty years from now, if this fight doesn’t happen, we all as fight fans will be truly disappointed in what we could have witnessed. Like the Thrilla in Manilla, we’d want to tell our children where we were when this fight happened. We’d tell stories of who we rooted for, recalling every punch, kick and takedown round for round.
But with every denial of even interest in doing this fight, we learn that the competitive spirit of fighting the best no matter what truly is gone. No longer is it pick a date and weight and I’ll be there. This is the new age of combat sports where the best simply don’t fight each other.
So instead of those stories of where we were when the biggest MMA match of all-time went down, just like Mayweather vs Pacquiao, we’ll only say what if.
Depending on who you talk to, Testosterone Replacement Therapy is either a miracle treatment or blatant cheating. But just what is the truth about TRT?