Add UFC middleweight and "The Ultimate Fighter" season 14 coach Michael Bisping to the growing list of fighters coming out against testosterone therapy replacement, the practice that sent Nate Marquardt packing from the UFC.
On Bisping's Twitter, he ranted that any fighters on TRT are "cheats."
This summer, the use of testosterone replacement therapy by several fighters has come to light. Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen both have talked about using the therapy to boost low testosterone levels. Marquardt was not licensed to fight the day before a scheduled bout in June because his testosterone level were too high, wrecking the main card of UFC on Versus 4. He was subsequently fired from the UFC.
Dennis Hallman, who is fighting Brian Ebersole at UFC 133 this weekend, discussed his use of TRT:
"People hear something from an official who was uneducated and they run around talking like they know the facts. They don't," Hallman said. "...The thing about those guys is that they are as ignorant as they can be. You can't generalize everybody in every situation."
Clearly, Bisping isn't sympathetic to Hallman and the others' use of TRT. That could be because one of his most famous losses is to Henderson.
B.J. Penn and Hector Lombard have also criticized the practice, and it's a subject that's likely to come up every time a fighter on TRT takes to the Octagon.
The UFC has been paring down its roster the last few weeks and the biggest victims have been the fighters managed by Golden Glory out of Holland. Alistair Overeem, Marloes Coenen, Jon Olav Einemo and Valentijn Overeem have all been released from their Strikeforce and UFC contracts the last few weeks.