UFC president Dana White made headlines on Friday when he told an informal media gathering that he had changed his tune on his fighters’ usage of testosterone replacement therapy.
At Saturday’s UFC on Fuel 7 post-fight press conference, White made it clear he wasn’t misquoted, misunderstood, or any way misrepresented. According to the UFC president, testing is coming for those who use TRT.
“If you are using TRT in the UFC, we’re going to start testing the s— out of you for the entire camp,” White told reporters at London’s Wembley Arena.
White explained that what he once saw as a legitimate advance in sports science, he now views as a loophole to for already hyper-competitive athletes to gain an edge.
“If you asked me three months ago, it’s legal, it’s sports science but everybody figures out a way to take a great thing and cheat and make it bad,” White told reporters at London’s Wembley Arena. “From what I’ve seen over the last year, I’ve seen guys, those of you who know what testosterone replacement is, if you’re older, testosterone gets lower, they can get you testosterone to get your back up to a 25-year-old.
“What I believe guys are doing, guys are jacking through roof on their entire training camp, then getting back down to normal levels before the fight, which is cheating,” White continued. “I hate it, I don’t like it and I’m going to fight it. And if you are using TRT in the UFC, we’re going to start testing the s— out of you for the entire camp.”
White said that he empathizes with fighters who have clean records, but have lost bouts to TRT fighters. While he didn’t name names, the most obvious case of the former, while the UFC was in London, is U.K. star Michael Bisping, whose only two losses in his past seven fights have been to Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort, both TRT users.
Unlike performance-enhancing drugs, though, TRT is approved by several influential athletic commissions, including Nevada. So while he’s short on details for now, White insists that TRT users will be monitored during their training camps from here on in.
“The TRT thing is legal,” White said. “The commission lets guys use testosterone replacement therapy. I believe that guys are cheating on it. I truly believe that guys are cheating on it, and I don’t like to see a natural gifted athlete fight against a guy against who has been jacked up on TRT for three months.
“The other problem that I have? You get four guys together, four smart guys who can have an educated conversation about testosterone replacement therapy? They’ll give you four different answers. When it’s that vague, and that many people don’t understand it, nanograms and this ratio to that ratio and all that bullshit, when you sit down and start talking about it, it’s not fair. If you’re testosterone level isn’t high enough, maybe you’re too old to fight.”