TRT Ban in Nevada - A Blow To MMA

Dan Soden

The debate about allowing therapeutic use exemptions for TRT in the MMA world have been a hot topic for some time now. On Thursday the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) unanimously voted to ban therapeutic usage exemptions for testosterone replacement therapy, a move that will have a lasting effect not only on the MMA world but combat sports as a whole.

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The ban will immediately be enforced and applies to both future applications and current fighters who’ve already received the exemption.

It safe to say that Dana White, UFC President, was pleased with the news on Thursday. He spoke with MMAFighting.com about NSAC’s ruling.

"[I'm] pumped!" White wrote via text message. "Couldn't wait for that garbage to go away."

He would later state that “We follow Nevada.”

Many questioned if White saying “We follow Nevada” meant that the UFC would adopt the ban as their own in instances where the UFC must act as the governing body.  It didn’t take to long for the UFC to clear things up. They released this statement:

"The Ultimate Fighting Championship fully supports the decision made today by the Nevada State Athletic Commission regarding the immediate termination of therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT)," White stated in the release. "We believe our athletes should compete based on their natural abilities and on an even playing field. We also intend to honor this ruling in international markets where, due to a lack of governing bodies, the UFC oversees regulatory efforts for our live events. We encourage all athletic commissions to adopt this ruling."

What is unknown is if UFC will ban exemptions for TRT in the states where they are still in effect. Places like Brazil have followed suit, on Friday the Brazilian athletic commission banned the usage going forward with Dan Henderson being the last exemption. New Jersey or the other hand plans to keep the exemptions, but since they’ve only given one out since 2008 (which they eventually revoked after the individual failed a required random test)

Regardless of who follows suit initially there is no doubt that this motion is a giant step in the right direction for MMA and combat sports.

The ruling has forced the UFC to change the UFC Middleweight Championship bout that was scheduled for May 24, at UFC 173. Originally we were set to see Chris Weidman defend his title against Vitor Belfort, but this has changed.

We are now set to see Weidman defend his title against Lyoto Machida. Machida, the former light heavyweight champion has gone undefeated in his first two bouts since dropping to middleweight. 

Speculation is that the winner of Weidman versus Machida will face Belfort, but many factors will play into that. Most notable if Belfort will be able to come off TRT and pass any test the UFC give him to compete.

Quotes are from http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/2/27/5454410/dana-white-ufc-will-no-longer-allow-trt-couldnt-wait-for-that-garbage

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