LOS ANGELES — Phil Davis is an elite competitor at light heavyweight, which may as well have been known as the TRT Division in recent years.
Several of MMA’s biggest names who used testosterone replacement therapy, from Dan Henderson to Chael Sonnen to Vitor Belfort to Forrest Griffin, have either been divisional mainstays or had high-profile, big-money bouts at 205 pounds at some point over the past couple years.
So news that highly influential Nevada Athletic Commission banned future TRT exemptions was music to the 12-1 Davis’ ears.
“It’s a good thing for the sport,” said Davis, who was in town Friday along with Tyron Woodley to speak at a local Boys and Girls Club as part of the UFC’s Black History Month tour.
The 29-year old Davis, who meets Anthony Johnson at UFC 172 in April, took some umbrage with the allowable 4/1 testosterone-epitestosterone ratios held as the standard by most state athletic commissions, much less use of TRT.
“You can have a T/E ratio of 4/1 — and it used to be 6/1 — and that was what was allowable,” Davis said. “Your T/E ratio is naturally 1/1. So, it sounds like you have six times more testosterone to me. How that’s fair, I don’t know.”
Of course, TRT was no magic bullet, as fighters who fought with such exemptions had decidedly mixed results. For Davis, that’s proof that those who needed TRT were mentally weak.
“I’m no scientist, I leave that to the smart people,” Davis said. “Either way, I have a thing. I truly believe this: I feel like, in order to take a performance-enhancing drug, you have to tell yourself you are a loser, you will not win unless you take it. If you can admit that much to yourself, in the mirror, then I’ll break you.”