Bisping: Vitor Has Been ‘Massively Successful Since He’s Been On TRT’

Perennial middleweight contender, Michael “The Count” Bisping (24-5 MMA, 14-5 UFC), recently spoke with Bloodyelbow, where he shared his thoughts on Vitor Belfort fighting for the UFC’s 185-pound title in Las Vegas.

Here is what “The Count” had to say:

I don’t really know what the commission bases those exemptions on, so I don’t know if that previous positive test precludes a TUE forever, or if there’s a certain time period that may have passed. I don’t have those details, but I’m sure he’s definitely going to try to get that exemption. You just can’t deny the fact that he’s been massively successful since he’s been on TRT. If he wants to maintain that success, I’m sure he’ll apply for an exemption certificate.

I’m sure he’ll do everything by the book. It has to be for the UFC. Will he get one? I don’t know. I’m not Keith Kizer. I will be watching very closely, to see how this whole thing unfolds. Will it affect him? Definitely. He hasn’t fought outside of Brazil for a while now.

The thing is, coming off TRT for one fight isn’t really going to make that much of a difference, because he’s still going to have that excess muscle mass. He’ll still be able to have that to his benefit, and those elevated levels early on in his training camp. Coming off it for one fight isn’t going to kill that, especially if he eats right and trains hard. It’s a bit of an unfair advantage.

I still want to fight him again, but I want to fight him clean, and long enough for the testosterone levels to come down to normal or what they should be for a man his age. I would imagine that takes about six months to a year, but again, I’m not a physician, so I don’t know the exact details of all that.

If the NSAC says he can’t have the exemption, they need to get him tested right now, and test him repeatedly, the same way they did with Barnett and Browne, all the way up to fight night. If they don’t do that, and just test him the day of the fight, he’ll just use the stuff up until three or four weeks before the fight, and then stop to get his levels down again. For Chris Weidman, who is a clean fighter, to have to come in against a guy with an unfair advantage, that’s just not right.

Do you agree with the remarks made by Bisping? Let’s hear it Penn Nation!