Anderson Silva wishes TUEs for TRT were still a thing in MMA
“USADA’s entrance in the UFC to control the doping situation, the way I see it, was good. But, in a certain way, it ends up being a disturbance.”
Legitimate cases of Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Testosterone Replacement Therapy are exceedingly rare. MLB issued six TUEs over six seasons, USADA issued one TUE in 2013, and at the 2012 London Olympics, the International Olympic Committee issued none. Meanwhile, there were dozens of MMA fighters on TRT. Early in 2014, the practice was effectively ended in MMA.
However, in a November interview with Brazil’s Rap 77, UFC G.O.A.T. Anderson Silva, who served a year suspension for an anti-doping test, called for a limited return of TRT.
There are some athletes who need to make use of the hormonal replacement, said Silva, as translated by Fernanda Prates for MMAjunkie. I think, if USADA regulated that, we’d have the sport at a high level, with athletes who have stopped fighting. Vitor, for example. Even me, though I never had the replacement. But some athletes who really need it, who are older. Dan Henderson, many other athletes who have stopped because of this.
USADA’s entrance in the UFC to control the doping situation, the way I see it, was good. But, in a certain way, it ends up being a disturbance. Because MMA isn’t a regular sport like all the others. It demands from the athlete fighting training, physical training. There are other countless technical valencies that they have to maintain [like] injuries, etc. I’m in favor of doping control, for sure. I think no athlete should or can be, on fight day, taking advantage of some situation. But I think they need to review this. Because there are many injuries, many athletes getting hurt, many fights getting canceled due to athletes getting injured, etc.
… For instance, you take a Tylenol, you can get caught in the doping. You take aspirin, you can get caught in the doping. There are many things, many medicines that the athlete uses, that they have to always be policing themselves. … I’m not against USADA; I’m totally in favor, but I think there should be a certain [flexibility] when it comes to what is allowed and what isn’t.