Weekly Recap: Vitor Belfort and TRT + Melendez Deal

By. Ivan Huang

Does Vitor Still Deserve a Title shot?

Photo credit to MMAjunkie.com

The hottest topic among the MMA community this week has been the Nevada Athletic Commission's banishment of Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT).

And the poster boy/goat of the whole TRT situation has been none other than 36-year-old UFC star Vitor Belfort.

Although Belfort isn't the first big name fighter to receive a Testosterone Use Exemption (TUE), the first actually being Dan Henderson, when most people think of TRT they think of Belfort.

Belfort was first granted TUE in 2012 coming off a loss in a light heavyweight championship bout against Jon Jones, a bout where he was obliterated by the pound-for-pound king in Jones.

Belfort would then win three fights in a row, all in his home country of Brazil by devastating knockouts. The wins included top contenders Luke Rockhold, Michael Bisping and Dan Henderson.

It's quite understandable that Belfort receives more press when it comes to TRT, because Belfort in the past has been caught using performance enhancing drugs and that under the Nevada Athletic Commission, he isn't allowed to use it but was allowed to use it in all of his recent fights in Brazil.

According to ESPN, Belfort has amassed a record of 5-2 using TRT and that his use of it started around Feb. 2011 fight with Anderson Silva in Nevada.

Now that TRT is banned from the Nevada Athletic State Commission, Dana and the UFC quickly followed suit, banning it in all of their events even outside of Nevada.

"We follow Nevada," White said, in an interview with ESPN.

A day after the announcement, Belfort and his manager releases a statement to Fox Sports 1,

"The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently altered its policy and will no longer permit testosterone use exemptions and will not permit a TRT program. Other jurisdictions may follow suit. I'm going to drop my TRT program and compete in MMA without it. Given the time constraints between now and my proposed next bout in May, I have determined not to apply for a license to fight in Nevada at this time."

Belfort also stated that his doctor recommends giving him 90 days to adjust training without TRT before he fights again.

This caused the UFC to pull Belfort from his match against Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman, who has been critical of Belfort's TRT use in the past.

"He's failed a drug test before. He's on TRT now. I don't agree with TRT to begin with, so him failing a drug test and being on TRT, I don't really like it. So I appreciate there will be a commission making sure he's doing things right. I don't have high testosterone at all. I'm completely fine. I guarantee his testosterone on TRT is two or three times higher than mine. I wake up and I work hard two or three times a day. I don't feel that there's a need for it, and if it comes to point where you need it, then you retire, you don't fight. Fighting is a sport where strength is important, and if you're going to have extra testosterone, especially after you've been caught cheating, it's unfair," Weidman said, in an interview with Fox Sports 1.

With Belfort out of his matchup against Weidman, Lyoto Machida, coming off of an impressive victory versus Gegard Mousasi on Feb. 15, steps in to face the Champion Weidman.

A well deserved opportunity for Machida, now begins to let fans wonder, Does Belfort deserve a title shot right after his "90 day period" to adapt?

Well the argument is that before Nevada's banishment of TRT, it was perfectly legal as long as testosterone levels were not above the average human's.

As stated by Chael Sonnen, who's also used TRT since 2011, after the announcement of Nevada's decision,

"The rules are the rules,” he declared. “Yesterday, it was legal; so quit complaining. Today, it’s illegal; so quit complaining. Testosterone is out."

As everyone who watches MMA or the UFC knows, that the window of opportunity for certain fights are very small, and only time (and Dana White) will reveal if Belfort's window of opportunity has closed.

Sweet Deal with the UFC lands Melendez a Coaching gig + Title Shot

After accepting a deal with Bellator in mid-February, the UFC has decided to match their offer, making Melendez who is (1-1) in the UFC, one of the highest paid fighters.

The San Francisco native, who was coming off of a Fight of the Year Candidate versus Diego Sanchez, accepted a deal with Bellator in which the terms of the contract was not disclosed.

Photo credit to fighthubtv.com

After the UFC had matched his offer, we now know that, "Melendez's deal guarantees that at least 75 percent of the 31-year-old's fights will be contested on pay-per-view moving forward. Additionally, income earned from Melendez's contracted pay-per-view points will kick in at a lower minimum buy rate than for any contract in UFC history, meaning Melendez will still earn pay-per-view point income on an event that underperforms at the box office," according to MMAfighting.com.

Melendez will now coach The Ultimate Fighter 20, opposite of Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis in the UFC's introduction of the Women's Straw-weight division (115).

After the reality show is aired, Melendez will get the chance to face Pettis for the title with the event and location TBD.

This sets a precedent for many fighters that are not happy with what the UFC has to offer after their contract expires, to talk to Bellator and see if the UFC will match their deal.

"We're going after everybody," Bjorn Rebney, CEO of Bellator Fighting Championships said in an interview with Dave Meltzer of MMAfighting. "When a fighter has one option, he has no power at the negotiation table, but when he has two options, the fighter has all the negotiation power.

“We’re going after everybody, more-and-more often. I think there’s a bigger picture issue. The biggest thing is there are two major players in MMA. It’s far and away better for the fighters. When a fighter has one option, he has no power at the negotiating table. But when he has two options, the fighter has all the negotiating power. That’s actually counter intuitive, coming from the CEO of a fight company. But that’s the truth. And my checkbook may take a shot because of it. But if the fighters can earn what they feel they deserve, overall we and the sport will be in a better place. You’re going to see much more of this as we move forward, guys coming from the smallest regions where we find undiscovered talent, to the superstars from the UFC and other guys we find in the United States.” - See more at: http://www.bjpenn.com/bellator-not-stopping-at-melendez-were-going-after-everybody-says-rebney/#sthash.SbyoRGJ2.dpuf