UFC President Dana White strongly supported the use of medically-indicated testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for mixed martial artists competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He defended TRT as a legal medical therapy that anyone, including amateur and professional athletes, should be entitled to receive if they are suffering from low testosterone.
White doesn’t believe it matters why an individual’s testosterone is low. Former steroid abusers who are suffering from anabolic steroid induced hypogonadism (ASIH) should be at the top of the list for doctor prescribed TRT. It makes no difference to White if the athlete has ASIH that occurred as the result of previous use of illicit anabolic steroids.
UFC president Dana White gave his most extensive comments regarding TRT in MMA in a video interview posted by MMAWeekly.com following the UFC 146 press conference in Las Vegas on March 27, 2012.
“Testosterone replacement therapy is something you can do. It’s for guys whose testosterone is too low, but here’s what you’re supposed to do: You’re supposed to get it back to the levels of a normal guy your age, and if you’re even that much over, now it becomes illegal.
“It’s based on what’s legal and what’s not legal. That’s legal, marijuana is not legal. Obviously it’s bad these guys who have abused steroids earlier on in their career. That’s what’s so terrible amongst all the other things you find out that’s good and what’s bad about using steroids, these young, talented guys who are full of testosterone already, go in and start abusing these drugs. Now, when you get up to your late 20s, which should be your prime, (and) early 30s, now you’re all screwed up because you’re off the steroids and you’ve destroyed your system forever to where your body can’t produce testosterone.
“Which is good, but we want to stop guys from taking steroids when they shouldn’t do it. No matter what short-term effects you have, the long-term effects are much worse. It’s stupid, and that’s what we’re trying to stop right now. But testosterone replacement therapy is legal.”
Dana White’s views on testosterone replacement therapy in sport, and particularly for former steroid users, represent a refreshing and compassionate contrast to the hostile and punitive attitudes towards former steroids users expressed by most individuals associated with the anti-doping establishment.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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