Earlier this year UFC veteran Rich Franklin appeared poised to join a number of big name fighters who’ve jumped on the bandwagon and started undergoing Testosterone Replacement Therapy after admitting it was something he was considering, but after taking on-board the opinion of his fans he’s now less interested in signing up for the controversial treatment.
“The public perception of TRT is that it’s cheating,” Franklin acknowledges in a new interview with ESPN. “The moment I said I was actually thinking about it, I started getting quite a bit of backlash.
“I don’t believe I’ve dropped off with my speed or strength or any of that,” Franklin said. “You can’t look at my last fight and say, ‘Yeah, Rich has lost a step and is looking older.’ When that day comes, perhaps I will consider quitting or possibly taking TRT. More than likely, in my mind, I’ll choose retirement over the necessity of TRT to continue.”
Credit to Franklin for talking openly about TRT and his own thoughts on using it. That’s more than some of the UFC’s other fighters have done, with the likes of Chael Sonnen, Frank Mir, Forrest Griffin and Dan Henderson all having used the treatment without first announcing that they were intending to do so.
Franklin’s always been a model professional in the sport both inside and outside of the Octagon- someone that fans look up to and other fighters respect, so it’s nice to see that even at the age of 38 he doesn’t appear to be looking for an easy way out and is setting a good example.
The former middleweight champion is set to return to the division he once reigned in November when he headlines the UFC’s first ever event in China opposite another veteran of the sport Cung Le.
