UFC
Vitor Belfort's doctor says he'll need 90 days to adapt without TRT treatment
Mar 1, 2014 - 9:00:11 PM Vitor Belfort's doctor says he'll need 90 days to adapt without TRT treatment

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

The Vitor Belfort saga continues today, as he posted a statement from his doctor regarding the timetable he'll need in order to get back to training at full capacity off his testosterone replacement therapy regimen.

"I would like to share the declaration of my doctor," Belfort said, passing along this statement:

"Vitor Belfort's TRT have always been a medical decision aimed to health improvement. The same treatment strategy is available and widely prescribed to every patient who makes the decision to live better and healthier life through their natural ageing proccess. Any performance advantage results not from the use of medication, but from the athlete's unshaken discipline and absolute dedication to an extremely demanding training routine, impecable nutrition and resting. In the name of his passion for the sport and dedication to his fans, my patient made the decision to interrupt his health treatment. We are going to need 90 days to adapt Vitor's treatment and nutrition in order to support his extremely hard training routine – This is what makes Vitor one of the best fighters on UFC history and the most dedicated athlete I've ever had the honor to work with."

Belfort was pulled from a title fight with Chris Weidman at UFC 173 because of a need to get off TRT with the Nevada Athletic Commission banning the treatment this week.

Penick's Analysis: This doctor comes off as more of a fan than the medical adviser for Belfort here, and also brings up some more questions regarding just why he needed TRT in the first place. If he's going to be able to have a treatment and nutrition plan for training that does not involve testosterone, then he shouldn't have been on testosterone to begin with. That's a big issue here with the TRT exemptions that have been handed out. If these fighters can compete without testosterone, then they don't need to be using testosterone. Also, if not medically necessary testosterone usage allows them to train easier, then by definition it's a performance enhancing drug. The whole situation is ridiculous, and highlights why something had to be done with how easily therapeutic use exemptions were being granted.