[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 16, 2015, 5:40 PM]
Vitor Belfort doesn’t appear to have any problems with keeping the public dialogue about him and steroids open if his latest statements are any indication. UOL Esporte in Brazil (translation by Guilherme Cruz at MMAFighting) at a media event in Sao Paulo today reports that, seemingly out of nowhere, he started accusing UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman of taking steroids during training camps and cycling off in time to pass drug tests.
Belfort started by throwing out rhetorical qustions. “Did he stop cycling? Wasn’t him the one to stop cycling, because his testosterone was low? was doing a treatment and paid the price. But have you ever thought about it, or no? Nobody ever talked about it. My levels were normal, his levels were low. How a kid at his age has low testosterone?”
Weidman responded on Twitter:
@mmamania lol yup cycle off position for life. I would never cheat like that guy has been proven to do.
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) September 16, 2015
For the record, Weidman’s levels, 370 nanograms per deciliter, is still within normal range, though it depends on the range used by the lab in question. 300 ng/dL is a common cutoff, so considering that Weidman was in the middle of camp and likely overtraining (which lowers testosterone levels), it’s inaccurate to say he was low. Belfort was at 1200 ng/dL for the same round of testing, which is closing in on the upper range of normal even though he claims to suffer from hypogonadism *low testosterone).
Belfort went on to say that “The reality is everybody was doing cycling, with their testosterones. I didn’t hide anything [by getting an exemption for testosterone replacement therapy]. You all knew what I was doing, I was doing a treatment. And I still have the deficiency, I’m working with supplements and food. I have a life of sacrifice. I don’t have a normal social life. I won’t reveal my secret, and my doctor’s secret, but we have been using natural things to meet this demand.”
Belfort main events the November 7the Fox Sports 1 card against Dan Henderson.
