Vitor Belfort drug test results to be made public June 17

On Feb 7, the Nevada State Athletic Commission administered a surprise test to Belfort, at the 2013 World MMA Awards. The results of the test have been received by the NSAC, by the UFC, and by Belfort. However, to date no one has detailed what the tests show.

Had Belfort applied for a license to fight, the NSAC would have been at liberty to disclose the results. However, on Feb 27 the NSAC banned the use of TRT, and Belfort withdrew from a planned title fight with Chris Weidman, citing the need to transition off the use of artificial testosterone.

As Belfort never applied for a license to fight, and the NSAC was legally prohibited from making the results public. Belfort himself could release the results of the test, but did not do so.

Belfort’s attorney, Neal Tabachnick, said that Belfort was on TRT under the care of a doctor at the time of the test. However, the NSAC policy is that someone not be on TRT when they apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption.

When Wanderlei Silva refused to take a surprise test for PEDs administered by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, he was pulled from a fight with Chael Sonnen at UFC 175 on Saturday, July 5 in Las Vegas. The UFC put Belfort in, which requires he be licensed.

Belfort was medically diagnosed with hypogonadism, a condition where his body does not naturally produce sufficient levels of testosterone. The condition is rare, but has been linked to past abuse of steroids. Give the artificially levels of testosterone in the body of steroid abusers, the body eventually stops producing testosterone naturally, sometimes permanently. Belfort failed a test for steroids in 2006, and was suspended for nine months. However, low levels of testosterone have also been linked with head trauma, and Belfort has been fighting for nearly half his life, and he is 37.

Belfort will go through a licensing hearing on June 17; NSAC executive director Bob Bennett said the results will be made public at that time.

The test results will be made public, yes, said Bennett to Elias Cepeda.

UFC color commentator Joe Rogan reported recently that Belfort failed the test, and that in fact was the reason the NSAC banned TRT. However, it is not yet clear what he failed.

Fighters granted a TUE for TRT are required to maintain a testosterone to epitestosterone ratio level designated as normal by the NSAC all year round, and not just during fight day. UFC president Dana White said they “tested the s—” out of Belfort when he was on TRT, and that he never failed.

The average male produces a T/E ratio around 1:1. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) uses a 4:1 standard for positive tests, and NSAC uses 6:1 as its cutoff, a number used by WADA up until 2006. In March of last year, the NSAC considered dropping to the lower 4:1.

White recently said a little enigmatically that there was not consensus among doctors on what Belfort’s NSAC test showed.

“A lot of the media has been talking about it but here’s the reality with that test, doctors disagree with the results of that test, yah, so…” said White. “Doctors that matter disagree with the results of that test.

“And here’s the problem, the problem is this, nobody knows what the f— they’re talking about when it comes to TRT and the testing. It’s the main reason it had to go away. If you talk to three different doctors, or you talk to different commissions, everybody has a different opinion on it. Nobody knew what the hell they were talking about, you know? When it’s like that it’s got to go away, it’s too big of a problem, it’s a nightmare.”

Reading into what has become public to date, it appears as if the surprise test showed that Belfort was training with levels of testosterone due to his TRT that could be considered elevated.

We will find out for sure on June 17.