Victor Conte once may have been Public Enemy No. 1 to regulators of combat sports. The founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative – more commonly known as BALCO – was the man who not only helped athletes such as baseball home run king Barry Bonds to use performance enhancing drugs, but also hide their usage.
These days, Conte is one of the world’s most outspoken opponents of PED usage and regularly points out the inadequacies of testing protocols.
Conte scoffs at the notion that there is a large percentage of mixed martial arts fighters and boxers who genuinely need testosterone replacement therapy, or TRT, for legitimate medical reasons. He believes they’ve simply discovered a way to increase their testosterone levels without failing a postfight drug screening.
Experts like BALCO’s Victor Conte doubt there is a legitimate reason for an athlete to use testosterone replacement therapy.
This is just another way to circumvent the rules, Conte said of TRT usage in MMA and boxing, which entered the headlines last month when Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight Nate Marquardt revealed he had fought three times while on testosterone replacement therapy. That’s all it is.
Those who know question TRT’s legitimacy
Victor Conte once may have been Public Enemy No. 1 to regulators of combat sports. The founder of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative – more commonly known as BALCO – was the man who not only helped athletes such as baseball home run king Barry Bonds to use performance enhancing drugs, but also hide their…
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