(Pictured: Robert Drysdale’s father, left, and Robert Drysdale’s grandfather, right.)
Testosterone and MMA go hand-in-hand like whiskey and breakfast (except they don’t hold hands, of course, because that’s what queers do). Unfortunately for many of today’s aging MMA stars, naturally produced testosterone dries up faster than a crick in a west Texas drought once they turn 30, forcing many of these dinosaurs to resort to the synthetic stuff in order to compete with the whipper-snappers who are trying to shamelessly take their jobs. And so, TRT was born.
While fighters like Vitor Belfort have utilized TRT to (literally) inject new life into their MMA careers, fighters like Robert Drysdale have damn near killed theirs before they even got started by abusing the stuff to a comical degree. Fortunately for Drysdale, it looks like the UFC will be letting him off easy for essentially pissing pure HGH last week and being subsequently pulled from UFC 167. A UFC rep recently spoke with MMAJunkie about Drysdale’s future in the organization following his botched drug test. In short, it’s still a go!
Obviously, Robert needs to establish that he is medically fit to participate and apply for the appropriate licensure,” the rep wrote in a prepared statement. “Assuming he is able to do this, he will fight for the organization at some point in the future.”
NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer said commissioners for the regulatory body will decide whether to place Drysdale on a future agenda to address the failed test. As of today, the commission also hasn’t levied any disciplinary action.
While we can’t imagine that this is the first impression the BJJ legend was hoping to make with the UFC, at least we will be able to see whether or not he was worth all the trouble he has given them so far. Hooray?
(Pictured: Robert Drysdale’s father, left, and Robert Drysdale’s great grandfather, right.)
Testosterone and MMA go hand-in-hand like whiskey and breakfast (except they don’t hold hands, of course, because that’s what queers do). Unfortunately for many of today’s aging MMA stars, naturally produced testosterone dries up faster than a crick in a west Texas drought once they turn 30, forcing many of these dinosaurs to resort to the synthetic stuff in order to compete with the whipper-snappers who are trying to shamelessly take their jobs. And so, the TRT TUE was born.
While fighters like Vitor Belfort have utilized TRT to (literally) inject new life into their MMA careers, fighters like Robert Drysdale have damn near killed theirs before they even got started by abusing the stuff to a comical degree. Fortunately for Drysdale, it looks like the UFC will be letting him off easy for essentially pissing pure HGH last week and being subsequently pulled from UFC 167. A UFC rep recently spoke with MMAJunkie about Drysdale’s future in the organization following his botched drug test. In short, it’s still a go!
Obviously, Robert needs to establish that he is medically fit to participate and apply for the appropriate licensure,” the rep wrote in a prepared statement. “Assuming he is able to do this, he will fight for the organization at some point in the future.”
NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer said commissioners for the regulatory body will decide whether to place Drysdale on a future agenda to address the failed test. As of today, the commission also hasn’t levied any disciplinary action.
While we can’t imagine that this is the first impression the BJJ legend was hoping to make with the UFC, at least we will be able to see whether or not he was worth all the trouble he has given them so far. Hooray?
I was just trying to say how committed I am to achieving something. Why would I want to do something that’s going to hurt me? Just to make people feel good? Haters are always going to be there. People are always going to talk about you because you are somebody. Like I’ve said, this [TRT] can’t teach people to knock people out with kicks and perform.
I was just kind of showing how motivated I am. Of course, they won’t allow that to happen. It’s unhealthy for me. It would be unfair. If you’re doing something right, everything goes good.
At this point, I can’t even muster the energy to comment on Belfort’s continuous flip-flopping. He is to TRT what Oprah is to dieting, and being that anyone who questions a former steroid user’s insistence or need to be on TRT is immediately dubbed a “hater” by fighters and fans alike, I’ll just leave this most recent blurb up to you Taters for analysis.
I think it’s a great idea, and I’m a big supporter of it. I think our sport and the commission taking actions like this is putting us ahead of the game compared to other sports. We’re not putting out a fire. We’re attacking the problem before it becomes an epidemic.
That’s more than three times the NSAC’s testing threshold of 6:1 (which is considered overly liberal in the first place), and even beats the super-inflated T/E ratios that Alistair Overeem (14:1) and Chael Sonnen (16.9:1) previously turned in. If you’re a healthy adult male, your T/E ratio is probably around 1:1. In other words, Robert Drysdale is approximately 20 times the man you are.
Drysdale’s latest drug test didn’t come back positive for steroids, and NSAC boss Keith Kizer clarified that the submission ace hasn’t been suspended or fined as a result of the failed test — at least not by the athletic commission. As we’ve seen recently, the UFC has no problem taking matters into its own hands when it comes to testosterone abusers. So will the UFC will give Drysdale another chance to get his act together, or will he become the first none-and-done fighter since Benjamin Brinsa?
Right, so about that “staph infection”…
(Allegedly, Robert shaved his chest three hours before this photo was taken. / Photo via Getty)
That’s more than three times the NSAC’s testing threshold of 6:1 (which is considered overly liberal in the first place), and even beats the super-inflated T/E ratios that Alistair Overeem (14:1) and Chael Sonnen (16.9:1) previously turned in. If you’re a healthy adult male, your T/E ratio is probably around 1:1. In other words, Robert Drysdale is approximately 20 times the man you are.
Drysdale’s latest drug test didn’t come back positive for steroids, and NSAC boss Keith Kizer clarified that the submission ace hasn’t been suspended or fined as a result of the failed test — at least not by the athletic commission. As we’ve seen recently, the UFC has no problem taking matters into its own hands when it comes to testosterone abusers. So will the UFC will give Drysdale another chance to get his act together, or will he become the first none-and-done fighter since Benjamin Brinsa?
Right, so about that “staph infection”…
Here’s MMAJunkie with a very illuminating history about Drysdale’s history with testosterone therapy:
Less than a month before his scheduled UFC debut at UFC 163 against Ednaldo Oliveira earlier this year, [Drysdale] submitted paperwork to obtain a therapeutic-use exemption (TUE) to undergo testosterone-replacement therapy (TRT), according to documents MMAjunkie.com obtained through a public records request.
On his application, which is dated July 8, 2013, the 32-year-old Drysdale stated the TUE request was his first. He certified that he hadn’t used or was currently using banned substances and had no previous positive tests. Also included in the paperwork was a letter from a Las Vegas-based anti-aging clinic, TrimBody M.D., that stated Drysdale was taking weekly testosterone injections at the clinic to treat hypogonadism.
Additionally, a blood exam from Clinical Pathology Laboratories showed Drysdale had a free testosterone level of 156 ng/mL, which was below the testing facility’s normal range of 292 ng/mL to 1052 ng/mL. He was within the laboratory’s normal range for follicle-stimulating hormone (6.0 mIU/mL) and luteinizing hormone (2.1 mIU/mL).
Taken together, the levels are important determining factors in the diagnosis of primary or secondary hypogonadism, a condition in which the body fails to produce normal levels of testosterone. They also play a significant part in deciding whether an athlete is cleared for an exemption.
Despite filing TUE paperwork, Drysdale did not receive an exemption, according to Kizer. On July 16, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported that Drysdale withdrew from UFC 163, which took place Aug. 3 in Rio de Janeiro and was overseen by the Brazilian Athletic Commission, due to a staph infection.
After racking up a laundry list of grappling titles including an Open-Division gold medal at the 2007 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships, Drysdale began competing professionally in MMA in 2010, finishing all six of his opponents by first-round submission.
No word yet on when Drysdale will be ready to return to action, or if Oliveira — who kind of dodged a bullet, here — will remain on the card against a different opponent. If any gross photos of Drysdale’s staph infection hit the Internet, we’ll be sure to let you know.
After racking up a laundry list of grappling titles including an Open-Division gold medal at the 2007 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships, Drysdale began competing professionally in MMA in 2010, finishing all six of his opponents by first-round submission.
No word yet on when Drysdale will be ready to return to action, or if Oliveira — who kind of dodged a bullet, here — will remain on the card against a different opponent. If any gross photos of Drysdale’s staph infection hit the Internet, we’ll be sure to let you know.
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who holds over 90 tournament titles to his credit — including an ADCC Absolute Division championship in 2007, video here — Drysdale has tutored such UFC veterans as Forrest Griffin and Dan Hardy in the art of ground fighting (or as Bob Arum calls it “homosexual skinhead rolling-about“). Since making the transition from the mat to the cage in 2010, Drysdale has submitted six straight opponents, such as TUF 3‘s Mike Nickels and Bellator vet D.J. Linderman (a.k.a the guy who Anthony Johnson planked at WSOF 1), inside the first round.
For his big debut, Drysdale will face Brazilian slugger Ednaldo Oliveira, who hasn’t competed in the UFC since being strangled out in Gabriel Gonzaga’s first post-unretirement UFC bout at UFC 142. Prior to his own debut, however, “Lula Molusco” — which if my Portuguese is correct means “Lady Mollusk” — was also undefeated, collecting 8 TKO’s in 12 contests.
Featuring a light heavyweight sure-to-be…uh…barnraiser? (lunker?) between Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis as well as the return of Thales Leites (please, CONTAIN YOUR EXCITEMENT), UFC 163 goes down on August 3rd at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
A Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who holds over 90 tournament titles to his credit — including an ADCC Absolute Division championship in 2007, video here – Drysdale has tutored such UFC veterans as Forrest Griffin and Dan Hardy in the art of ground fighting (or as Bob Arum calls it “homosexual skinhead rolling-about“). Since making the transition from the mat to the cage in 2010, Drysdale has submitted six straight opponents, such as TUF 3‘s Mike Nickels and Bellator vet D.J. Linderman (a.k.a the guy who Anthony Johnson planked at WSOF 1), inside the first round.
For his big debut, Drysdale will face Brazilian slugger Ednaldo Oliveira, who hasn’t competed in the UFC since being strangled out in Gabriel Gonzaga’s first post-unretirement UFC bout at UFC 142. Prior to his own debut, however, “Lula Molusco” — which if my Portuguese is correct means “Lady Mollusk” — was also undefeated, collecting 8 TKO’s in 12 contests.
Featuring a light heavyweight sure-to-be…uh…barnraiser? (lunker?) between Lyoto Machida and Phil Davis as well as the return of Thales Leites (please, CONTAIN YOUR EXCITEMENT), UFC 163 goes down on August 3rd at the HSBC Arena in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
Robert Drysdale’s BJJ credentials include being a six-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion, ADCC Absolute Division Champion as well as winning over 90 BJJ tournament titles. He has a MMA record of 3-0 with all three victories coming by way of submission, showing his versatility in those fights by using a guillotine, an arm-bar and an arm triangle choke. Within the MMA community he is regarded as one of the best BJJ instructors with a virtual all-star list of hall of famers, former champs and current contenders to support the claim. Names like Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin, Martin Kampmann, and Evan Dunham have all excelled under the tutelage of Drysdale, just to name a few. He was also brought in on TUF season 8 by Frank Mir (a black belt in BJJ himself) to help coach his team. Despite having enough trophies and medals to fill a dump truck while instructing some of the sport’s elite, Drysdale still trains/teaches at his BJJ academy in Las Vegas.
This past weekend, Robert Drysdale hosted a seminar at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in Long Beach, California, where he was kind enough to give CagePotato a few minutes of his time.
Cagepotato.com: You have trained the cream of the crop in MMA, both skill-wise and personality-wise. Do you have any personal favorites?
Robert Drysdale: There are a lot of guys that I really like but me and Frank [Mir] get along pretty well. John Alessio is a very good friend and then there is Danny Davis. Forrest [Griffin] is a trip and it’s always fun to have him in the gym. There are so many guys down at the gym that it is hard to name all of them but I get along with all my students.
CP: Are the stories true? Is Forrest really that hairy?
RD: (laughs) He tries to be as hairy as me but he is not winning that fight because I have better hair distribution.
CP: According to your Wikipedia page, you fought in Houston Texas last night. Apparently not everything is true on the internet. What happened?
Robert Drysdale’s BJJ credentials include being a six-time World Jiu-Jitsu champion, ADCC Absolute Division Champion as well as winning over 90 BJJ tournament titles. He has a MMA record of 3-0 with all three victories coming by way of submission, showing his versatility in those fights by using a guillotine, an arm-bar and an arm triangle choke. Within the MMA community he is regarded as one of the best BJJ instructors with a virtual all-star list of hall of famers, former champs and current contenders to support the claim. Names like Randy Couture, Wanderlei Silva, Forrest Griffin, Martin Kampmann, and Evan Dunham have all excelled under the tutelage of Drysdale, just to name a few. He was also brought in on TUF season 8 by Frank Mir (a black belt in BJJ himself) to help coach his team. Despite having enough trophies and medals to fill a dump truck while instructing some of the sport’s elite, Drysdale still trains/teaches at his BJJ academy in Las Vegas.
This past weekend, Robert Drysdale hosted a seminar at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo in Long Beach, California, where he was kind enough to give CagePotato a few minutes of his time.
Cagepotato.com: You have trained the cream of the crop in MMA, both skill-wise and personality-wise. Do you have any personal favorites?
Robert Drysdale: There are a lot of guys that I really like but me and Frank [Mir] get along pretty well. John Alessio is a very good friend and then there is Danny Davis. Forrest [Griffin] is a trip and it’s always fun to have him in the gym. There are so many guys down at the gym that it is hard to name all of them but I get along with all my students.
CP: Are the stories true? Is Forrest really that hairy?
RD: (laughs) He tries to be as hairy as me but he is not winning that fight because I have better hair distribution.
CP: According to your Wikipedia page, you fought in Houston Texas last night. Apparently not everything is true on the internet. What happened?
RD: I was supposed to fight last night, man, but I had a knee injury a while ago and it has been slow to heal so the fight has been moved to July 13th. I have a three-fight deal with Legacy Fighting Championship and that will be the first one.
CP: Is the eventual goal to compete in the UFC?
RD: I guess the UFC is everyone’s end-game but I don’t think of it like that because that’s not the end. I just want to keep getting better. I think that working hard is really the key and everything else is just the consequence of your hard work.
CP: You have said that a person can train in Jiu-Jitsu for their entire life and still not master it. That may be true, but since it is your area of expertise, how are you training in MMA to become a “complete” fighter.
RD: I always thought it was a mistake to neglect your ‘A’ game, which is what a lot of people do. They think, ‘I am going to fight MMA now, so I am only going to work on my hands because my Jiu-Jitsu is good enough.’ A lot of people have told me, ‘Don’t work on your Jiu-Jitsu – just work on your hands.’ But most likely I am going to use my Jiu-Jitsu to win because it is my best weapon. So I want to make sure that my best weapon is always sharp. That being said, it is important to learn other elements of the game even if it’s not your field of expertise. You need to be comfortable enough in that game to be able to hang. That is why I have been putting a lot of time in with my striking to make sure I am comfortable to hang on my feet when I fight because I don’t want to be a one-dimensional fighter.
CP: So take me through an average week for you.
RD: My schedule right now, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I teach and train from 10:30 am until 12:30 pm. It’s a Jiu-Jitsu slash MMA class. So basically, small gloves, ground and pound, wall wrestling with submissions. In the afternoon, I’ll lift some heavy weights and mix in some conditioning and if I don’t do that then I will do a one hour Muay Thai session. After that I teach a class from 6:30 pm until 8:00 pm. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I spar from 11 am until 12:30, get some striking drills in as well and then at night I do some more sparring and hit some pads.
CP: You were brought in by Frank Mir during his season coaching on TUF. How do you juggle being a coach and a fighter?
RD: People probably refer to me more as a coach than as a fighter because I teach so many UFC fighters in Jiu-Jitsu at my gym. Being a full-time trainer is something I would focus on exclusively in the future. Right now I am a part-time coach because my focus is on my fighting career and that is what I put most of my energy into. Coaching is something I really enjoy and I think I am good at it but it is not a top priority right now.
CP: We have seen guys like Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin go from combatants on TUF series to coaching on the show. Did the thought ever cross your mind to go from coaching on the show to being a competitor on the show as a way to fast-track you to the UFC?
RD: I have heard a lot of negative things about TUF from people that have been on it, but I guess I really shouldn’t talk about it. Let’s just say it’s probably not the best route for me.
CP: Like yourself, Ricardo Almeida is also here doing a seminar at the World Jiu-Jitsu Expo and he recently served as an official judge during the UFC on FOX 3 card. What do you think of fighters/trainers operating in that capacity and would that be something you may be interested in down the road?
RD: I would much rather have professional fighters judging. The fact is, I don’t know who these judges are and I don’t want to disrespect them, but it sounds to me that they are either fans of the sport or people that have been around the right people for a long time. So they are like their buddies and then they get hooked up. Then there are others that are boxing experts who don’t necessarily know anything about MMA. I think that Ricardo Almeida being a judge is probably one of the best things to happen to this sport. As far as I am concerned, I think I am unbiased and would make a good judge. I am a reasonable guy and I have refereed Jiu-Jitsu matches before where the match ends in a draw and I have given the decision to the guy who is not my friend. I am that kind of guy.
CP: Where are you after the three-fight deal with Legacy Fighting Championship?
RD: Hopefully with a 6-0 record, maybe get a couple more fights, and then talk with the UFC. Honestly, I don’t think that far ahead. It is hard enough to think one step ahead much less think 20 steps ahead. That is a little ambitious in my opinion. I live today. I live the now, and I try to be the best I can be right now. Everything unfolds and everything is a consequence of me making the right decisions in my life.
Monday’s live edition of The MMA Hour is another loaded two-hour episode featuring all kinds of guests from around the world of mixed martial arts.
* Manager Shu Hirata will be in studio to preview his client Takayo Hashi’s fight against Tara LaRosa on Nov. 24 for DaMMAge Fight League and to talk about the state of Japanese MMA.
* Roy Nelson will shed light on his recent contract issues with the UFC and what the future holds for him.
* Matt Mitrione will help us look back on UFC 123 and ahead to his fight against Tim Hague in January.
* Ed Soares will stop by to discuss Saturday’s fight between Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson.
* Jiu-jitsu expert Robert Drysdale will talk about his second pro win and when he expects to fight again.
* And Scott Carson, Herschel Walker’s opponent on Dec. 4, will explain why he is worthy of fighting the NFL legend.
And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT. Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.
Monday’s live edition of The MMA Hour is another loaded two-hour episode featuring all kinds of guests from around the world of mixed martial arts.
* Manager Shu Hirata will be in studio to preview his client Takayo Hashi’s fight against Tara LaRosa on Nov. 24 for DaMMAge Fight League and to talk about the state of Japanese MMA.
* Roy Nelson will shed light on his recent contract issues with the UFC and what the future holds for him.
* Matt Mitrione will help us look back on UFC 123 and ahead to his fight against Tim Hague in January.
* Ed Soares will stop by to discuss Saturday’s fight between Lyoto Machida and Rampage Jackson.
* Jiu-jitsu expert Robert Drysdale will talk about his second pro win and when he expects to fight again.
* And Scott Carson, Herschel Walker’s opponent on Dec. 4, will explain why he is worthy of fighting the NFL legend.
And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT. Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.
Monday’s live edition of 