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Jon Jones: "TRT should be for sick, or 'normal' people."

3K views 36 replies 23 participants last post by  Life B Ez 
#1 ·
http://mmajunkie.com/news/30306/ufc...ould-be-for-the-sick-or-the-normal-people.mma

by Steven Marrocco on Aug 21, 2012 at 4:50 pm ET

While UFC light heavyweight champ Jon Jones didn't directly address Dan Henderson's expected use of prescribed testosterone, he made his feelings on the issue known.

"I believe that if you're healthy enough to play sports, you shouldn't take any performance-enhancing drugs or anything for testosterone," Jones said today during a teleconference in support of UFC 151.

"You should fight the way you fight when you're in your 40s. I don't think you should be able to take a drug to pretty much give you the strength of a 30-year-old again."

In advance of a 2007 fight with Wanderlei Silva, Henderson (29-8 MMA, 5-2 UFC) received a therapeutic use exemption from the Nevada State Athletic Commission to undergo testosterone replacement therapy. He is expected to receive another to fight Jones (16-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) on Sept. 1 at UFC 151, which takes place at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Jones initially hedged on giving his feelings about the controversial treatment, but said fighters who were on TRT were unnaturally extending their shelf life and shouldn't be allowed to do so.

"Fighters make a lot of money in their 20s, they make a lot of money in their 30s, and when they get in their 40s, unfortunately, you're in your 40s," he said. "... That's like me saying, 'I'm not as fast-twitch as I was when I was 20. Let me take something to be 20 again.' I think things like TRT or steroids should be for the sick, or for the normal people that really need the drugs.

"If you're an athlete, you're an athlete. I don't think anyone should have anything that enhances them."

Henderson did not respond to follow-up requests for comment on Jones' statements.

Trash talk explained

Like opposing chess pieces moving closer, quotes from Henderson and Jones have grown more bold as the fight has neared.

The 41-year-old Henderson – who turns 42 on Friday – may have fired the first shot when, in an interview with ESPN, he called Jones a "sloppy" fighter who threw "goofy elbows." Jones recently responded in an interview with MMAFighting.com by calling him an "older version of Rashad Evans."

The jabs aren't any different than hundreds of others that have preceded a big fight. Often, though, they inflame things when opponents share the same air.

Today, any emotion that might have charged those statements, or led to a verbal clash when they were again brought up, was absent.

In calling Jones "sloppy," Henderson said he was simply making an observation about the 25-year-old champ.

"I'm probably an older version of a lot of people, but I don't think I'm the same style as Rashad," Henderson said. "We're both wrestlers, but have totally different wrestling styles. I don't know. I guess I don't have too many comments."

Jones acknowledged he was upset by Henderson's statements. But that had been tempered by his respect for the ex-champ.

"All these insults back-to-back-to-back started off the whole fight," he said. "I was just like, 'Oh, so this is how we're going to play, huh?'

"I do respect Dan Henderson a lot. He's a guy's guy. I just saw a picture of him holding a rattlesnake recently that he found in his backyard. Things like that. I would want to take him to the gun range with me; he's that type of dude. But at the same time, when insults are thrown out, it causes me to speak more honestly, and I spoke my mind."

Jones stuck by his statement that Henderson is an aged Evans and said he sees similarities in preparing for the two. Both, he said, have powerful right hands and can wrestle.

But he believes Evans can last longer.

"Rashad … can bring it for five hard rounds," Jones said. "I don't think Dan can do that. It may be a slight insult, but everything I said was pure truth."

Henderson didn't necessarily disagree with Jones.

"Sometimes my cardio could have been a little better, but I think a lot of that is attributed to the pace I fight sometimes," he said. "I've had some pretty good paces in a few of the fights, and I'm not worried about my cardio for this fight at all."

As for the holes he sees in Jones' game, Henderson echoed his opponent: He was just speaking his mind. The difference, perhaps, was that he didn't need to feel insulted to share.

"It's not anything of an insult," Henderson said. "It is what it is."
I got a chuckle out of this.
 
#2 ·
I'm sorry but the after reading that all I could think was.

Dan Henderson, busy not givin a f*cl.

Nothing new though, pretty much what I would expect to hear from both of them. All though Jones does have pretty thin skin some times.

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#8 ·
If any other Champ said this everyone would agree but because Jones said it he's "got his head up his own ass" or he's "full of it".
 
#21 ·
My God, you guys are completely misunderstanding the point. And it may be Jones' fault for not being able to express it better.
But, it doesn't take a very high IQ to read between the lines and understand that what he means by "Normal People" is "A person not involved in competitive athletics".

I happen to totally agree with him. If you need to take a boost of some kind of drug or hormone or whatever to be able to compete, you probably shouldn't be competeing anymore. I have no problem with that at all. I think that's all he is saying.

You guys are trying to read way too much into this. It may be because you dislike Jones for some reason, IDK. But try to read between the lines and really interpret what he is saying. Also pretend someone other him is saying it, and you would probably agree.

In other words, If Jones was on record as needing and taking TRT before every fight, the same people slamming him for these comments would be slamming him for taking the TRT.

If you don't like him as a person or a fighter that's fine. But that doesn't mean he isn't right.
 
#14 ·
Yes, Jones needs to talk less. Whether a guy is a fighter or not, there are medical reasons for a doctor to legitimately prescribe TRT. He doesn't know it at 25, but when JBJ's is in his 40's and suffering real symptoms of low T levels, he'll probably understand a little more. If the governing bodies could keep medical needs versus using it for advantage in check, then it shouldn't be a problem. No fighter should complain that another fighter shouldn't have NORMAL levels. I don't know enough about it to say how they keep it in check, but if it is only at normal levels, then what is the problem. If a fighter naturally has above average T levels, should he not be allowed to fight?
 
#24 ·
The worst thing about TRT is that it allows fighters to fight well into their 40s in a sport where competing into your 40s is an absolutely retarded idea.

In 20 years this is going to be looked at as a dark saga in MMA. HBO specials galore about brain damage and TRT side effects and all that good shit.
 
#25 ·
are athletes who often have higher natural test levels than the average male, more likely to have low test levels when they get to be 35+? i know taking steroids and trt before you need it can mess up the bodies ability to to create test naturally but can having naturally high levels effect your ability to produce it long term?
 
#28 ·
How many of the posters that are so against TRT are 40+ ??
People who are over 40 still need to earn money, still want to have a normal sex life, I have looked into it and there are a lot of benefits to having a normal testosterone, I think as long as its legal and you stay within normal levels than they should TRT their ass off.

I have a feeling that 95% of posters here who live a active lifestyle will have no problem with TRT once they all of a sudden can't do what they once could when they get older.. IMO.

If I had they money I would give it a try.
 
#31 ·
I think one of the biggest problems with TRT is that it creates an advantage to older, wiser fighters. Now you've got guys training well into their 40's with the performance of their 20's, and the experience of a veteran which is unfair for younger fighters and sets them up for TRT use in the future.

I understand for a lot of these guys MMA is not just a career, but a way of life and it can be difficult to call it quits. Part of life is re-inventing yourself and adapting as a man to new experiences...

It's unfortunate that this conversation even comes up, but take guys like Frank Mir who become Testosterone deficient and receive an exception at the age of 34 with no prior testosterone related issues. How do you just become deficient in a hormone in a sport that elevates testosterone just out of the blue? You mean to tell me this wasn't caught when you had any other medical screenings? TRT's not new either, it's been around for awhile now.

All's I'm saying is if you have more guys abusing it instead of being properly diagnosed, what's the point of allowing it? It's almost being looked at like a medical supplement, it's not...these aren't multivitamins we're talking about.
 
#32 ·
Just to clarify things here because it has come to "everybody in their 40s starts losing testosterone" myth again.

It is estimated that 20% of men above the age of 60 have low testosterone. Secondary hypogonadism in healthy men below the age of 50 is extremely rare and most of the time it's people who have used or abused steroids or steroid-related substances in the past.
 
#33 ·
In the years immediately before and after I turned 40 I was training the hardest I had ever trained in my life with some guys who "considered themselves" to be cutting edge researchers in TRT. (they had access to the cream and patches not injections).

anyway, in my very small scale experience I observed that

1. It doesn't make everybody Randy Couture.

2. It probably contributed to more training injuries. Because you might feel recovered and ready to go but you're still 40 years old.


Just between you and me, I could use some of that Sh** now. I hope Hendo markets his own brand. :thumb02:
 
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