Kemo
10-17-2015, 05:09 PM
In 2011, after his knockout loss to Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort went on testosterone replacement therapy, but circumstances dictated that nobody knew about it. In September 2012, rumors started to circulate about it (we only learned recently how it got out) on top of general suspicions about how different his physique looked. He eventually confirmed it in 2013, the same year he scored three consecutive terrifying head kick knockouts, the last of which was over Dan Henderson, who was also on TRT. With the two set to have a a rubber match (Henderson won their 2006 Pride FC fight), MMAFighting spoke to Henderson about his thoughts on Belfort.
Of course, being the hot topic with regards to Belfort right now, they talked about the revelation that he tested way out of range on a free testosterone blood test in September 2012. “I wasn’t surprised he failed the drug test,” said Henderson. “I was just surprised that it didn’t come out until now. You know, it happened two, three years ago.”
Why isn’t he surprised? Because Belfort has had various ties to performance enhancing drugs in the past, including failing a test the day of their 2006 Pride fight in Las Vegas. “I don’t know. I mean, who knows what Vitor was taking, I just know that his body looked completely different. I don’t know, I just think… I’m beating Vitor regardless of him being on drugs or not. I’m still capable of beating him, and I’m happy that the UFC has implemented its drug testing, something that I’ve been asking for a long time.”
Henderson is looking forward to the fight, especially in light of USADA now doing unannounced out of competition drug testing of all UFC fighters. “It definitely helps doing out-of-competition drug testing, with no advanced notice. That’s something I had in my life for a long time, being on the national Olympic team for wrestling in the United States. For 15 years, I was subject to it. When I started fighting MMA there was no drug testing. I’m pretty happy now, and I’m confident that be sure Vitor and other fighters won’t use PEDs.”
Of course, being the hot topic with regards to Belfort right now, they talked about the revelation that he tested way out of range on a free testosterone blood test in September 2012. “I wasn’t surprised he failed the drug test,” said Henderson. “I was just surprised that it didn’t come out until now. You know, it happened two, three years ago.”
Why isn’t he surprised? Because Belfort has had various ties to performance enhancing drugs in the past, including failing a test the day of their 2006 Pride fight in Las Vegas. “I don’t know. I mean, who knows what Vitor was taking, I just know that his body looked completely different. I don’t know, I just think… I’m beating Vitor regardless of him being on drugs or not. I’m still capable of beating him, and I’m happy that the UFC has implemented its drug testing, something that I’ve been asking for a long time.”
Henderson is looking forward to the fight, especially in light of USADA now doing unannounced out of competition drug testing of all UFC fighters. “It definitely helps doing out-of-competition drug testing, with no advanced notice. That’s something I had in my life for a long time, being on the national Olympic team for wrestling in the United States. For 15 years, I was subject to it. When I started fighting MMA there was no drug testing. I’m pretty happy now, and I’m confident that be sure Vitor and other fighters won’t use PEDs.”