UFC
Charlie Brenneman reflects on events leading to his UFC on Versus 4 upset victory; believes TRT usage should be disclosed to opponents
Jul 5, 2011 - 11:30:09 PM Charlie Brenneman reflects on events leading to his UFC on Versus 4 upset victory; believes TRT usage should be disclosed to opponents

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

When Nate Marquardt was pulled out of his UFC on Versus 4 headlining fight with Rick Story last weekend in Pittsburgh, the door opened for Pennsylvania native Charlie Brenneman to take what was his biggest career fight on a day's notice. Brenneman seized the opportunity, defeating Story by unanimous decision in a major upset, and propelling his name to the forefront of MMA discussion during the week that followed.

"The high is still definitely there," Brenneman told MMATorch last week. "It's really hard for it to sink in. I've [gone] from relative obscurity in the MMA world to doing a bunch of interviews and being on a bunch of websites."

Brenneman was originally scheduled to face T.J. Grant on the card, but when Grant fell ill and pulled out of their fight, the UFC told Brenneman to make weight by Saturday's weigh-ins to collect his fight purse. Already on target to make weight, Brenneman said he didn't even get word until Friday afternoon that there was a possibility of him fighting on the card.

"Wednesday, Thursday and most of Friday, that's how it was [just trying to make weight to get my paycheck]," he said. "Friday about 4 o'clock is when my manager/trainer Mike Constantino came in and said, 'hey, I just talked to Joe Silva and there's a chance that you could be stepping in for Nate Marquardt tomorrow.' At that point, even though there was a possibility, I didn't expect it to come true."

The possibility became a reality on Saturday afternoon when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission took Marquardt out of the event because he failed to get his testosterone levels down to the "normal" level he was supposed to be in with his testosterone replacement therapy. At that point, the former high school Spanish teacher stepped in to take on the top-10-ranked Story.

Marquardt's treatment became a hot topic throughout the week, and while Brenneman said he wasn't brushed up on all of the information regarding TRT, he doesn't see why it makes sense for it to be allowed, and believes fighters should be notified by commissions if their opponent is on something they know about.

"I don't agree with it," he said flatly. "I don't know Nate's particulars... but for me personally, the way I feel and the way I perform, that's to me getting my body to a point of perfection, and I'm one that definitely doesn't need or want any illegal performance enhancers.

"Yeah [a fighter should be notified if their opponent is on TRT]. One, I'm not sure what makes it legal and what makes it ok. It's almost like, the drugs are illegal, but if I get permission then they are legal. That doesn't make sense to me. I'm not really sure the particulars of it and how it's become acceptable... I think it's more than expected [that you should] know if your opponent is using testosterone or performance enhancers."

Still, Marquardt's loss became Brenneman's gain, and he said the short notice nature of the fight made it much easier for him. A day's notice, he noted, didn't give him time to over think things.

"[The last minute notice] was kind of a blessing, because I didn't really have time to prepare," he said. "We did have a rough game plan that we went to. But the mental side of it, the whole week I had tried to keep myself at an even keel, not too excited, not too disappointed. It went from one extreme to the other, and made [me] realize that there's no sense trying to control a situation because it could have gone anywhere."

Brenneman was understandably running on a high all week after pulling off the upset, and even though he's still young and has a long career ahead of him, he says he can't see that unique set of circumstances coming together again to allow him to have as great a moment as he experienced that night.

"I hope I move on to bigger things in the sport, but to have that perfect of a situation and have all the factors lead me to that point, I just don't know that's going to happen again," said Brenneman. "I hope I go on to better things, but the stars aligned for me that night and I don't know that it will happen two times in a lifetime."

Brenneman hopes to take a little time off to improve his overall game before getting back into the Octagon, but for now he hopes fans will follow him on Twitter @SpaniardMMA, or on his personal website at Charlie-Brenneman.com.