UFC
UFC 148: Forrest Griffin received exemption for testosterone against Tito Ortiz; all fighters from event test negative
Jul 13, 2012 - 3:35:43 PM UFC 148: Forrest Griffin received exemption for testosterone against Tito Ortiz; all fighters from event test negative

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The Nevada State Athletic Commission tested all 22 fighters on last weekend's UFC 148 event for performance enhancing drugs, as well as drugs of abuse. On Friday, Nevada State Athletic Commision executive director Keith Kizer informed MMATorch that all 22 fighters tested negative on their screens.

That included UFC Middleweight Title challenger Chael Sonnen, who received an exemption for testosterone replacement therapy for his second fight against Anderson Silva. Sonnen's entire ordeal with TRT became public after their first fight, when he tested positive for an elevated testosterone to epitestosterone ratio, indicative of synthetic testosterone use.

This time around, he requested and was granted an exemption for the controversial treatment, and complied with the NSAC's requirements handed down at his application hearing before the fight.

However, Sonnen's TRT use is no surprise at all. What is a surprise is another nugget dropped regarding the event, as Larry Pepe, host of Pro MMA Radio, revealed on Twitter that he received more information from Kizer regarding the event. Per Kizer, via Pepe, UFC 148 co-headliner Forrest Griffin received a therapeutic use exemption for TRT as well. Kizer subsequently confirmed the news with MMATorch.

Griffin is the second fighter in two high profile Las Vegas events who has had their TRT use revealed after their fight, with Frank Mir being the other following his loss to Junior dos Santos in May. According to Pepe, both Griffin and Sonnen tested within normal ranges for testosterone in blood tests prior to and the morning after UFC 148.

Penick's Analysis: TRT is clearly not going anywhere anytime soon, and it's starting to become its own punchline here. Kizer has insisted in the past that very few exemptions are handed out for TRT, yet here's three fighters in the last two events - main and co-main event fighters, no less - who are being allowed to use testosterone treatments in their training camps. In the case of Griffin and Mir, that wasn't even disclosed to their opponents beforehand. If it's going to be allowed, the fighters who are competing against these exempted athletes at the least deserve to know that their opponent is using this treatment. It's ridiculous already how many fighters are claiming low testosterone and a need for TRT considering the supposedly low natural occurrence of low T in men, and the age of the athletes in question. The more that come out as TRT users, the shadier the treatment looks, and it continues to be a very divisive issue in the MMA community.