With growing focus on TRT, UFC boss says hands tied by maddening logistics
LAS VEGAS – The sometimes-blurry line between performance-enhancing and medically necessary testosterone use smacked UFC president Dana White in the face this past June when Nate Marquardt was nixed from UFC on Versus 4.
Even before that, Chael Sonnen put the issue on the radar when he said he used testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) to combat hypogonadism following a suspension by the California State Athletic Commission.
With Marquardt, White suggested the fighter could have enhanced his performance by taking the hormone in excess, but he refrained from making a final judgment. More damaging was the fact that Marquardt had deep-sixed a main event and, in his words, blown a fourth chance at being clean before athletic commissions.
In both cases, White deferred to state regulatory bodies, whom he said were ultimately responsible for making and enforcing rules on what's legal and illegal in the sport of MMA.
These days, the UFC president is a little more familiar with the issue. Really, he's had no choice in the matter. A wave of media stories about fighters undergoing testosterone replacement therapy has put testosterone front and center once again.
But while he knows more about the practice, he's no more convinced that he can do much beyond what his promotion already does to stop fighters from possibly cheating.
"We've got 375 guys under contract," White said. "We're doing a zillion fights a year, traveling all over the world, all these other things that we're doing. Now, you really think that we can crack down and [expletive] chase these guys around everywhere they live all over the world and just randomly test these guys all the time?"
This past January, the UFC announced a new policy to screen all potential fighter signees for performance-enhancers and drugs of abuse prior to inking a contract. The promotion has always screened contestants on "The Ultimate Fighter" for illicit drugs in addition to performing background checks. White said these measures have averted potential medical problems from fighters that didn't know of a medical condition, and likely caught a few who were trying to cheat the system.
"So you end up winning 'The Ultimate Fighter' based on talent, conditioning and whatever," he said.
But random, out-of-competition testing, which is employed by just a few commissions and is considered one of the most effective deterrents to cheating, isn't something the UFC does.
And White believes it's something that isn't realistic, though he did hint at new action possibly related to drug screening.
"It's impossible," he said. "I want to see [expletive] baseball and football and all these other guys get tested the way we get tested. There would be no baseball or football if they got tested the way we get tested. I don't want to throw this thing at everyone else, but the point is, we're the most regulated sport on the planet, and that's a fact."
Testosterone use covers a gray area. Unlike marijuana, it's not technically illegal, and it's difficult to conclusively determine whether a fighter is using it out of medical necessity or due to prior steroid use, White isn't in the position to shun it outright.
"Testosterone replacement therapy is something you can do," he told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com). "It's for guys whose testosterone is too low, but here's what you're supposed to do: You're supposed to get it back to the levels of a normal guy your age, and if you're even that much over, now it becomes illegal.
"It's based on what's legal and what's not legal. That's legal, marijuana is not legal. Obviously it's bad these guys who have abused steroids earlier on in their career. That's what's so terrible amongst all the other things you find out that's good and what's bad about using steroids, these young, talented guys who are full of testosterone already, go in and start abusing these drugs. Now, when you get up to your late 20s, which should be your prime, (and) early 30s, now you're all screwed up because you're off the steroids and you've destroyed your system forever to where your body can't produce testosterone.
"Which is good, but we want to stop guys from taking steroids when they shouldn't do it. No matter what short-term effects you have, the long-term effects are much worse. It's stupid, and that's what we're trying to stop right now. But testosterone replacement therapy is legal."
The UFC could, in theory, test its athletes out of competition. It may be a logistical nightmare and a significant burden, but it would go a long way to combating the perspective that the promotion isn't doing all in its power to stamp out doping.
White, however, believes he and his staff are doing everything they can. The last thing he and the UFC wants is to lose a fight or a fighter. But while he knows more about TRT, his conclusion is the same: Athletic commissions bear most of of the burden in tackling the issue.
"There isn't a sport out there that goes above and beyond, whether it's the safety of the athletes, testing for all this crazy [expletive], and the list goes on and on," he said.
