UFC color commentator Joe Rogan has called for the UFC to cut ties with anti-doping agency USADA and bring back Testosterone Replacement Therapy.
“There’s a six-month period USADA has to test them [the fighters] randomly, which I think the USADA thing’s a mistake,” Rogan told Eddie Bravo on his Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “I really think they should do all that in-house because USADA does stuff like, well they don’t do it anymore but they were doing stuff like waking guys up at 6:30 in the morning like the day of the weigh-ins and testing them. It was f***ing insane, f***ing insane. For world title fights. F***ing insane.”
Rogan went on to state his belief that USADA are preventing fighters from using substances that in his opinion shouldn’t be banned.
“There’s a real problem where they’re stopping guys from taking things like BPC-157, all that stuff does is let you heal,” Rogan said. “It’s called body protection peptide 157, body protection compound. It’s a really good peptide for healing injuries. I think athletes should be able to use everything they can, especially in a sport like MMA.”
Furthermore, Rogan event went as far as to say that he believes the UFC should seek to unban Testosterone Replacement Therapy, the controversial treatment that the likes of Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson all had exemptions to use in the UFC for a period of time before the Nevada State Athletic Commission banned it’s usage in 2014.
“With testosterone, you can take a guy who’s an older athlete who has an older mind, who thinks like a veteran, like, they really understand the game. Because a lot of those guys, by the time they get to that certain age, they think real well. They understand the game better, they’re more mature, but their body just doesn’t work the same anymore… A lot of people have it in their head that it’s cheating, right? They think about Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa and all that sh*t and getting busted, and they think it’s got a negative connotation in a lot of people’s minds that testosterone replacement is, ‘Oh, you’re doing steroids. You’re cheating.’ But if you’re intelligent about it and if you do it with a good doctor and you get your blood work done and you don’t abuse it, it’s very good for you.”
“…It would be good with fighters if the UFC administered it. You can’t administer it on your own. They have to randomly test you to make sure you’re not f***ing off and doing something crazy. But this is the amount you get. Let’s make sure that your blood work stays within this very normal… So you’re not cheating, you’re just maintaining.”
