UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz Sounds off on Testosterone Replacement Therapy

UFC light heavyweight Tito Ortiz has gone on air to warn of a coming epidemic of testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) use.

In an interview with HDNets Inside MMA, six-time champion Ortiz said:

The sport has come so far in such a short space of time, I hope this hasnt become an epidemic. What type of message are we sending to the youths that are watching our sport?

TRT is a treatment for people with abnormally low levels of the male hormone testosterone. It requires regular injections of the steroid.

It has been used by an increasing number of fighters in order to gain a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) to allow them to compete while undergoing the treatment.

Fighters such as Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee, Nate Marquardt and Frank Mir have all been granted TUEs.

This is the same thing that weve been trying to stop from happening, and all of a sudden in the last six months its legal to do, said Ortiz. Youre allowed to be six times over the average? Since day one since Ive been competing over the last 15 years, Ive always been on an even field. Why all of a sudden other fighters can be on a higher six times the amount over an average person.

Drug tests among most U.S. state athletics bodies involve measuring a persons testosterone-epitestosterone ration (T/E). In a normal person, the ratio is 1:1, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission allows a ratio as high as 6:1 before an athlete is deemed to have failed a test.

The use of TRT, or any synthetic steroid, tilts the ratio heavily in favour of testosterone. However, the T/E ratio test does not measure the absolute level of testosterone in a persons body, which could still be in the normal range even if the ratio is skewed.

Ortiz has been fighting since 1997, announcing his retirement earlier in the month at UFC 148.

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UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz Sounds off on Testosterone Replacement Therapy