Heading into his UFC Fight Night 32 bout with Dan Henderson, much was made of Vitor Belfort‘s usage of testosterone replacement therapy.
Many attributed Belfort‘s string of first-round knockout wins—over Michael Bisping, Luke Rockholt and then Henderson—to his testosterone regime. And perhaps Belfort‘s late-career resurgence is due, at least in part, to his legal usage of testosterone.
But Belfort didn’t step in the cage with Henderson juiced out of his mind. In fact, Belfort told MMAFighting.com that his T-levels were actually low for the fight:
“My (testosterone) levels were low in my last fight”, Belfort told MMAFighting.com during a media scrum in his gym in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. “I have all the exams to prove that I have a disease. It’s simple.”
The medical director for Brazil’s MMA Athletic Commission said that pre-fight medical exams indeed showed that Belfort‘s testosterone levels were low.
Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission’s medical director Dr. Marcio Tannure explained to MMAFighting.com that one of Belfort‘s pre-fight tests were below the normal limits, but that’s “legal.”
Unless something major happens, Belfort‘s next fight will come against the winner of the UFC 168 bout between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva, scheduled for next month in Las Vegas.
Many believe that it will be difficult for Belfort to obtain a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone in Nevada after he failed a 2006 post-fight drug test in the state, but Belfort said he’s confident he’ll be able to secure the exemption:
“Chael Sonnen has a license to fight in Vegas, and I’m doing everything by the book,” Belfort told MMAFighting.com. “I have all the exams to prove it.”
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