Erick Silva’s attempt to appeal his UFC 212 loss has fizzled out. Silva suffered a TKO loss at the hands of Yancy Medeiros earlier this month. He appealed the defeat as he felt referee Eduardo Herdy stopped the fight early. The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) denied the appeal and sent a statement to MMAFighting.com. You […]
Erick Silva’s attempt to appeal his UFC 212 loss has fizzled out. Silva suffered a TKO loss at the hands of Yancy Medeiros earlier this month. He appealed the defeat as he felt referee Eduardo Herdy stopped the fight early. The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) denied the appeal and sent a statement to MMAFighting.com. You […]
(The 2014 resurgence in old-school anabolic steroids marches on. / Photo via Getty)
The Brazilian Athletic Commission (CABMMA) announced today that Polish lightweight Piotr Hallmann tested positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone following his split-decision loss to Gleison Tibau at UFC Fight Night 51 last month, and has been suspended from competition for nine months. Hallmann vs. Tibau won the “Fight of the Night” award at UFC Fight Night 51; Hallmann’s $50,000 bonus is expected to be revoked, and the loss will remain on his record. Here’s the full statement from CABMMA, via MMAJunkie:
All athletes from the card were tested for anti-doping control upon arrival at Nilson Nelson Arena to detect anabolic agents, diuretic/other masking agents, stimulants and cannabinoids. Four athletes were randomly selected to also be tested for erythropoietin (EPO) and levels of human growth hormone (Hgh).
The athlete Piotr Hallman failed the test due to presence of anabolic steroid drostanolone. He will be suspended for nine months, reatroactibve to the date of his fight. To be licensed again by CABMMA, he will need to go through new anti-doping control tests.
The Brazilian Athletic Commission (CABMMA) uses WADA accredited lab for its anti-doping control tests.
(The 2014 resurgence in old-school anabolic steroids marches on. / Photo via Getty)
The Brazilian Athletic Commission (CABMMA) announced today that Polish lightweight Piotr Hallmann tested positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone following his split-decision loss to Gleison Tibau at UFC Fight Night 51 last month, and has been suspended from competition for nine months. Hallmann vs. Tibau won the “Fight of the Night” award at UFC Fight Night 51; Hallmann’s $50,000 bonus is expected to be revoked, and the loss will remain on his record. Here’s the full statement from CABMMA, via MMAJunkie:
All athletes from the card were tested for anti-doping control upon arrival at Nilson Nelson Arena to detect anabolic agents, diuretic/other masking agents, stimulants and cannabinoids. Four athletes were randomly selected to also be tested for erythropoietin (EPO) and levels of human growth hormone (Hgh).
The athlete Piotr Hallman failed the test due to presence of anabolic steroid drostanolone. He will be suspended for nine months, reatroactibve to the date of his fight. To be licensed again by CABMMA, he will need to go through new anti-doping control tests.
The Brazilian Athletic Commission (CABMMA) uses WADA accredited lab for its anti-doping control tests.
– The win percentage of MMA fighters who tested positive for steroids after fights now stands at 41.9% (18-24-1). Generally speaking, if you’re a user, you’re a loser.
– This is the first time since 2008 that MMA has given us five confirmed steroid busts in a single year. And when you add in all the fighters who failed drug tests for elevated testosterone (Vitor Belfort, Robert Drysdale), HGH (Chael Sonnen, Cung Le), and EPO (Sonnen, Ali Bagautinov), 2014 is at least the second-druggiest year in MMA history.
– In 2007, 14 MMA fighters failed drug tests for steroids, 12 of whom were caught in California. That’s an insane, inexplicable outlier in the data — and it’s still the number to beat.
But Silva isn’t going quietly into his suspension. As he told MMAFighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Bigfoot plans to sue Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) medical director Dr. Marcio Tannure, who authorized the veteran heavyweight’s therapeutic usage exemption for TRT, and oversaw his therapy. And if you listen to Silva’s side of the story, he might actually have a case here.
A week before his fight in Australia, Silva received a report from Tannure stating that his testosterone levels were low, and he should continue taking injections on a weekly basis. It seems possible that Tannure was unaware of just how soon Silva’s fight was coming up — but nevertheless, Silva’s followed the doctor’s orders, and it wound up costing him a $50,000 bonus and nine months of his career.
“I just did what they told me to do,” Silva told MMAFighting.com. “I’d never do something different that what the doctor told me to. I looked for a doctor with a good reputation, and he’s the UFC’s doctor in Brazil. I knew I’d be tested before and after the fight. Unfortunately, now I have to find the legal ways to overturn this situation or at least prove I’m not guilty…
“I took a shot at the same day he sent me that e-mail, and he asked me if I had another one to take with me to Australia, to take on fight week,” he said. “He authorized everything. I did exactly as I was informed to do.
But Silva isn’t going quietly into his suspension. As he told MMAFighting’s Guilherme Cruz, Bigfoot plans to sue Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA) medical director Dr. Marcio Tannure, who authorized the veteran heavyweight’s therapeutic usage exemption for TRT, and oversaw his therapy. And if you listen to Silva’s side of the story, he might actually have a case here.
A week before his fight in Australia, Silva received a report from Tannure stating that his testosterone levels were low, and he should continue taking injections on a weekly basis. It seems possible that Tannure was unaware of just how soon Silva’s fight was coming up — but nevertheless, Silva’s followed the doctor’s orders, and it wound up costing him a $50,000 bonus and nine months of his career.
“I just did what they told me to do,” Silva told MMAFighting.com. “I’d never do something different that what the doctor told me to. I looked for a doctor with a good reputation, and he’s the UFC’s doctor in Brazil. I knew I’d be tested before and after the fight. Unfortunately, now I have to find the legal ways to overturn this situation or at least prove I’m not guilty…
“I took a shot at the same day he sent me that e-mail, and he asked me if I had another one to take with me to Australia, to take on fight week,” he said. “He authorized everything. I did exactly as I was informed to do.
“You go get help with a doctor, you do the right thing, and now this story tarnishes my professional career,” he continued. “It tarnishes the great fight I did with Mark Hunt, and gave me a huge financial loss. The doctor knows that I cut weight, he knows how the body of a MMA fighter reacts. He should know at what level I would be with one shot. I felt like a lab rat. I did everything I was told to do and now I’m the cheater.”
To help build his defense, Silva plans to re-do his normal fight preparations under the supervision of different doctors:
“I’ll take the exact dosage I took, the exact timetable, and will get a doctor here in the U.S. and a doctor in Brazil to show to the fans that this is horrible for my career and the sport,” he said. “I want to prove that it was not my fault. When I have all the exams from both doctors, I want to sue (Dr. Tannure) for the moral and financial prejudice that he has caused me.”
Silva added that he’d like to continue undergoing TRT in the future as long as the UFC allows him to:
“I want to continue the treatment because it’s good for my personal life and my career as well. If you know what acromegaly is, you know what I have. My hormonal levels are not normal, my testosterone is too low, and I want to be on normal levels. I thought about a thousand things since this all happened,” he continued. “I considered leaving the sport because of these unfair things, but I don’t give up that easily. I have to show that it was not my fault.”
In other words, TRT is still not an exact science, and unless you’re dealing with a very experienced endocrinologist, mistakes can be made. And if Bigfoot still decides to use TRT when he returns from suspension, the same thing could happen to him again. So, our lesson for today: Don’t get on TRT unless you really need it to function normally, and if you really need TRT to function normally, you might want to consider a line of work other than professional fighting.
MMA Junkie obtained the information from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services recently. According to Junkie, both fighters were not available for comment but Rothwell’s opponent Brandon Vera was.
“The Truth” was not amused. “It won’t help,” he said of Rothwell’s TRT use.
As states like Nevada and New Jersey go, so usually do the rest of the United States. Belfort has fought three out of his last four fights in Brazil with the other taking place in Canada. But hey, Brazil has a regulatory commission, right? They surely do: The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA).
The doctor who serves as medical director for that commission, Marcio Tannure, recently told MMAFighting.com that “Henderson needs to send him the exams to prove his medical conditions (hypogonadism) to apply for a TRT use, and they will analyze the request,” and that Belfort has blood tested before and after fights to ensure that “his levels are good.” Usually, fighters with TUEs for TRT still have to maintain “normal” testosterone levels.
In the Southern hemisphere, the national Brazilian star Belfort is the one in good standing, his prior failed drug test not being a deterrent to CABMMA in granting him a TUE whereas Henderson, who is allowed his TUE in the states, is the one who appears to face more of a hurdle. Coincidence, I’m sure.
However, don’t expect either Belfort or Henderson to be denied TUEs for TRT because, well, CABMMA’s drug testing isn’t considered to be quite as legitimate by international standards any more. BloodyElbow has the info:
(Doughy, smooth IFL Ben and lean, hairy UFC Ben. Man, that acai berry stuff really works wonders.)
MMA Junkie obtained the information from the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services recently. According to Junkie, both fighters were not available for comment but Rothwell’s opponent Brandon Vera was.
“The Truth” was not amused. “It won’t help,” he said of Rothwell’s TRT use.
As states like Nevada and New Jersey go, so usually do the rest of the United States. Belfort has fought three out of his last four fights in Brazil with the other taking place in Canada. But hey, Brazil has a regulatory commission, right? They surely do: The Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission (CABMMA).
The doctor who serves as medical director for that commission, Marcio Tannure, recently told MMAFighting.com that “Henderson needs to send him the exams to prove his medical conditions (hypogonadism) to apply for a TRT use, and they will analyze the request,” and that Belfort has blood tested before and after fights to ensure that “his levels are good.” Usually, fighters with TUEs for TRT still have to maintain “normal” testosterone levels.
In the Southern hemisphere, the national Brazilian star Belfort is the one in good standing, his prior failed drug test not being a deterrent to CABMMA in granting him a TUE whereas Henderson, who is allowed his TUE in the states, is the one who appears to face more of a hurdle. Coincidence, I’m sure.
However, don’t expect either Belfort or Henderson to be denied TUEs for TRT because, well, CABMMA’s drug testing isn’t considered to be quite as legitimate by international standards any more. BloodyElbow has the info:
“Brazil’s only WADA accredited testing facility (and thus, only truly legitimate anti-doping testing location) [was] suspended by WADA earlier this month. WADA’s release on the situation said ‘WADA has suspended the accreditation of the LAB DOP – LADETEC / IQ – UFRJ Doping Control Laboratory (LADETEC) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The suspension, which is effective as of August 8, 2013, prohibits the LADETEC from carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities.’
“WADA stated that the lab did not meet the International Standard for Laboratories and could face full revocation of their accreditation.”
We’re not saying that either Belfort or Henderson will use TRT in ways that will result in their having higher-than-normal testosterone levels, we’re just saying that, at this point, we should all recognize the fact that there will be no one credible ensuring that they don’t when they fight November 9th. Well, at least neither fighter will be able to use the excuse of not being 100% for the bout.
