Belfort calls for more stringent drug testing of his opponents
“All those who fight against me are always complaining. But I have one thing to say: why they are not tested during the preparation for the fight?”
Chris Weidman fights Vitor Belfort on May 24 in Las Vegas. Belfort wants a Therapeutic Use Exemption for his Testosterone Replacement Therapy, and thus will need to apply to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
However, Dr. Timothy Trainor, consulting physician to the NSAC, told “Outside the Lines” last Tuesday he would advise the five-member commission against granting any fighter a TUE who previously tested positive for PEDs. In 2006, Belfort tested positive for the anabolic steroid 4-Hydroxytestosertone.
“If we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone has used PEDs in the past, they will not get an exemption,” said Dr. Trainor. “No, no way.”
Dr. Trainor was asked specifically about Belfort.
“Well, it is going to get denied then,” the doctor said flatly.
However, Dr. Trainor is not a voting member of the commission.
NSAC chairman Francisco Aguilar said that a prior failed drug test would not immediately disqualify Belfort, and that his case will be heard by the full five-member commission, with advice from Trainor.
Aguilar bluntly noted that economic considerations would come into play, an unprecedented admission.
“The economic development impact to the state could be huge,” he said, noting that the taxes on ticket sales and PPV amounted to $500,000 on the Weidman vs. Silva II alone.
“There are always people with an interest from the economic perspective,” said Aguilar, adding, “but we also have the obligation and duty to be regulators.”
Now in an interview with Brazilian media giant OGlobo, Belfort expressed complete confidence that he would be approved, and in an audacious move, called for his opponents to be subject to further testing.
Bloody Elbow‘s Fernando Arbex provided the translation.
“For sure I’m confident,” said Belfort. “It’s my treatment. The UFC and the doctors are already working on it to make things right. I don’t believe that it is going to be a problem. It’s not something from my head, it’s a medical issue.
“The big problem are the people who abuse in a general way. They use without the right for it, to cheat. I’m the only guy who is rigorously tested in gaps of 15 days, as Dana White said. When the UFC don’t do the test, I do it myself. It’s my treatment. The cool thing is to be fine with your conscience, to know that you are playing fair.”
“I’ll start asking for one thing the UFC. All those who fight against me are always complaining. But I have one thing to say: why they are not tested during the preparation for the fight? The thing is that many guys use doping during their camps to improve recovery and such. During my camp I’m thoroughly tested.
“I will now ask for Dana White to test all those guys who fight against me and keep talking. The same way that my blood is tested, must test their blood to see if they are not cheating. Many use products that we know, they know that they are mocking and they are talking about me. But in reality, everyone is using during the camp. Get there on time and piss when already out of his body.
“I do not. I am obliged to draw blood during my camp and after the fight. They do not have to draw blood, it’s just pee. Then all the guys who will fight me should do the test with me. Let’s see if their hormones are straight or if they are using an illegal substance. We know that there are a lot of cheating out there. They abuse during the camp. I’m a proper man. Let me take the exam. I will be tested , and they will not be tested?”
So what do you think UG? Is Belfort the victim here? Or should someone with a previous positive test for PEDs be denied TRT completely?