BJ Penn says the needle is not the answer

We can only hope that our beloved sport of MMA doesn’t go the way of the most boring/worst sport in the world (baseball) and have a steroid scandal. I think we can all agree that wiping out half of our young sport’s fine history due to TRT use and and cheats would be absolutely disastrous. And no one wants to see any weeping fighters in front of a jury or reporter asking for forgiveness. That would be awful. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that. Hopefully brave men like BJ Penn can make a difference.

The Prodigy stopped by the MMA Hour with our friend Ariel Helwani to discuss this disturbing trend of low hormone levels in MMA.

“I think everyone is really of the same opinion as I am, if they want to admit it or not. Stuff like this is not easy to talk about. We’re talking about friends and colleagues of mine. They look at me and they hear me say these things, and they’re like, ‘You know you’re the only guy that doesn’t do it, right?’ And I’m like, I know.

“It’s a catch-22 for me. I believe so strongly in fair play and all these things, and on the other side, it’s people you know and people you look up to, legends of the sport. They’ve been involved with stuff like that. I guess i shouldn’t be so outspoken because I have so many friends and colleagues and so many people I respect in this sport that have gotten involved with stuff like TRT and hormone replacement.”

“When you’re chi is down, you feel weak, and I’m sure it’s an easy way out to do all the testosterone and stuff, but I just couldn’t see myself doing it.”

“I always said no,” he said of well-known coaches in the sport talking to him about trying one of the treatments to boost his own performance. “I always believed that technique is what it was all about. That’s why I always took on the bigger challenges. That’s what jiu-jitsu is about. That’s why they have the absolute division, so when you’re a white belt in jiu-jitsu, you’re already practicing wrestling with bigger people. I always believed it was in the technique. I always believed the needle is not the answer. I always believed that. I still believe it today.”

I just want the TRT use to end so I can stop writing about it. Borrrinnggg.

[source]

Published on July 26, 2011 at 11:55 pm
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