UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman initiated a heated exchange with Vitor Belfort during their staredown at the UFC 187 weigh-ins yesterday, and soon after explained that the reason he got hot under the collar is that he believes ‘The Phenom’ is still using Testosterone Replacement Therapy.
“This is a guy who needed testosterone replacement therapy for the majority of his career,” Weidman told FOX Sports 1. “He said he couldn’t live his life without it. And now he’s at 1,200? During camp, my scores were in the 300s, and I am 10 years younger than him. But a 1,200 testosterone score for a guy that needed it medicinally? The guy is cheating.”
Weidman is referring to the results of their respective pre-fight drug tests which have been made public and show that while both men passed, Belfort’s testosterone were still far higher than Weidman’s at 1200 ng/dL in March and 500 ng/dL in April compared to the champion’s constant 370 ng/dL for both months.
While Belfort’s levels do raise question marks, his tests do sit approximately around the ‘normal’ range which is generally classified as 348 to 1,197 ng/dL.
Only just though and the biggest red flag that Belfort is artificially enhancing his testosterone levels is the fact that previously he’d been approved to use TRT (back when it was legal to do so) because his natural testosterone levels were medically proven to be below the normal range.
With that in mind it seems something of a miracle that the 38 year-old is now operating with levels considered to be at the top end of what’s considered possible naturally for a human being of any age.
Nevertheless, Belfort technically hasn’t done anything that’s considered illegal and so the fight goes ahead and Weidman has vowed that he’ll hand out his own form of punishment in the Octagon tonight in Las Vegas.
“He’s still cheating, and I’m going to make him pay,” Weidman told fans.
Check out the two fighters exchange at the weigh-ins and Weidman’s comments afterwards below.
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