Mixed martial arts as a sport has apparently ended Therapeutic Use Exemptions for Testosterone Replacement Therapy. Legitimate incidences of low testosterone, or what is known as hypogonadism, in healthy athletes at their peak is “vanishingly small” – less than 0.1 percent. But it does exist.
One such case is Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva, who fights Andrei Arlovski at UFC Fight Night 51: Bigfoot vs. Arlovski 2 on Saturday night, live on UFC FightPass.
Silva applied for and received a TUE for TRT one time. Silva then fought Mark Hunt to a draw in one of the great fights in the sport’s history last December. Unfortunately, Silva tested out of range for testosterone, the bout was declared a No Contest, and he was suspended for nine months.
In an interview early this year, Silva’s long-time manager Alex Davis appeared on The MMA Hour and explained that Silva’s case is a medical necessity.
“This is one of the guys that really have authentic technical reasons to be on TRT,” said Davis. “He has acromegaly. His pituitary gland overproduces GH (growth hormone) and that unbalances all his other hormones.”
“When I started managing him, he was actually lactating. He has extreme low testosterone. He has extremely low testosterone, so he has a real reason to be on TRT.”
The TRT ban has forced Silva to undergo surgery to remove a cyst at Hospital Das Clinicas de Brasilia on Sept. 22.
Antonio’s acromegaly is caused by a cyst on the pituitary gland, said Davis to John Morgan for MMAJunkie. The only way to access it is through the nose – it’s underneath the brain. So after this fight, I’m going to have to take him from here to head surgery because of the ban on TRT.
We’re taking a guy that really needed TRT and forcing him to do an operation, which he did not have to do otherwise.
It’s not necessarily a risky procedure. He’s going to be very well treated, but would you like to have someone operating on your head?
We could have done radiotherapy, but radiotherapy would possibly make his testosterone go even lower, so we can’t do that. Surgery is the only option we have.
For them to ban TRT for everybody because somebody else is misusing it is wrong. To me, it’s completely ridiculous. He really needs it. His testosterone level normally is 70. I think that he deserves and he should be able to be at the same level as any other normal human being.
For his part, Silva says he is successfully coping with the ban.
From the time I found out I had this acromegaly condition in 2006, I did all my fights without any hormone replacement, said Silva, via translation. For the Hunt fight, I decided to request a usage exception. Let’s say I didn’t have good results with the replacement, so I’m going back to the way things were before, without any hormone replacement.
We’re trying to get similar benefits from the right nutrition and proper rest. My medical diagnosis does indicate that I should be undergoing therapy, but if that’s not allowed, we’re finding other healthy ways. And once I retire, then I can certainly go on TRT and have a normal life.
For now, I’ll keep fighting since that’s what I love to do.
It’s unfortunate that the good sometimes pay for the bad, but I’m going to keep fighting anyway.”
