Two UFC 164 heavyweights, two histories and two opinions on TRT

More than a decade after their careers took divergent paths over peformance enhancers, UFC 164 opponents Frank Mir and Josh Barnett share different opinions on a controversial treatment used by a growing number of MMA fighters. 

Mir, who’s never tested positive for banned substances in his MMA career, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he continues to undergo testosterone-replacement therapy after starting treatment this past year. The 34-year-old fighter believes it’s a necessary part of his life, and said he takes it for personal reasons over those of performance. 

“Obviously, because I go to a medical doctor, it’s explained to me in a lot further detail,” Mir (16-7 MMA, 14-7 UFC) said. “I realize that being allowed to have a level of 600 (ng/mL), where it’s only 100 above the lowest mark of being deficient, I’m nowhere near performance-enhancing levels. That’s why they test us so regularly leading up to the fight, every two weeks, constantly monitoring where I’m at, so that if anybody were to try to abuse the system, [they] would immediately be flagged. So that being said, you only use it basically because it’s a deficiency, and it would cause me to have problems in other aspects of my life – personality, mood swings and whatnot.”

Barnett (32-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC), who has tested positive for PEDs three times, said he doesn’t need TRT, whether it’s for performance or personal issues. Despite his history, which 11 years ago cost him the UFC heavyweight belt, the 35-year-old said he values willpower and dedication above anything else when it comes to his body’s performance.

“I’m 35, but most of the camp (for Mir), I’ve been 260 pounds and fairly lean,” he said. “So I just diet, exercise and keep a clean life. I don’t think I can’t compete like I used to, to be perfectly honest. I don’t think things have changed, in terms of age and wear and tear. I try to work around other aspects. I know I’m not 22 and I can’t just go out there and bash myself against the wall every day in practice and not pay any consequences for it. But with age and intelligence comes wisdom, so I’ve figured out ways to work around that. 

“But I can beat anybody in the world right now. I don’t feel like I’m struggling, which I imagine somebody with low testosterone, to the point that they would need to be given a doctor’s exemption to take synthetic testosterone, would feel. I would imagine they would feel listless, without energy, and depressed, and unable to keep muscle on or grow or lose fat, or whatever the other side effects would be from low ‘T.’ But I don’t have those side effects.”

On Saturday, 11 years after the two fought on the same card at UFC 36, Barnett and Mir will see who’s holding up better. They serve as the pay-per-view card’s co-main event at Milwaukee’s Bradley Center. 

When the two fought at UFC 36, they were at drastically different points in their career. After a knockout loss in his second octagon bout, Barnett had won two straight and earned a shot at then-heavyweight champ Randy Couture. Mir, meanwhile, had only one UFC fight under his belt, a quick armbar submission to the unheralded Roberto Traven. 

That night, Barnett won the heavyweight title by stopping Couture in the second round, and Mir tapped Pete Williams with a rarely-seen shoulder lock. Then, as quickly as they brushed shoulders, they went separate directions. 

The catalyst was Barnett’s positive test one month after UFC 36 for steroids. The Nevada State Athletic Commission, which in 2000 had flagged him for PEDs while formulating a drug testing regimen, delivered the news that prompted the UFC to strip the new champion of his title. Amid a nasty breakup with his employer, who had balked at his demands for a new contract, Barnett went overseas to compete in Japan. He would fight there for the next six years. 

Competing in an anemic heavyweight division, Mir took two years to fill Barnett’s shoes as champion. A motorcycle accident forced him to give up the belt and left him sidelined for two years. He would fight in four more title bouts (interim and undisputed), but would never regain the title. 

Despite a recent two-fight skid, Mir said he doesn’t plan on retiring and wants another chance to win back the title. 

The Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services, which will oversee UFC 164, confirmed that Mir did receive a therapeutic use exemption for Saturday’s event. But, citing a “balancing test” between medical privacy and the public’s right to know, it declined to reveal what Mir’s exemption was for. 

Another heavyweight who received an exemption for the event was Ben Rothwell, who sources said is also undergoing TRT. Mir, Rothwell, Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson are among the active fighters using prescribed testosterone.

Mir didn’t hesitate to admit his exemption was for the hormone, and said he had been prescribed it since a title fight with Junior dos Santos more than a year ago at UFC 146, which previously was disclosed by the event’s overseer, the Nevada State Athletic Commission. 

Asked whether he considered the public repercussions of such a choice, Mir said he didn’t give attention to critics who claim the treatment is a license to use a banned performance-enhancer, or more pointedly, permission to cheat.

“I realized immediately that if I went that route, it was one of those situations where it was a personal choice as far as how I wanted to behave as a husband and a father, having extremely low testosterone levels and hormones,” he said. “There’s other therapies I have to go through just to stay healthy now that obviously aren’t on the list of the exemptions, so I don’t have to [disclose] those, but because of the matter of what it is, I have to [disclose] that aspect of my health care. 

“Everybody’s always looking for something to break somebody down, but the individuals that are intelligent and enlightened and want to take the time to study upon something and not just pull a few facts off of some kind of shock value type article written, then I think they’ll realize this isn’t doing much more for me than if I were to just take a bunch of vitamin C.”

Despite Mir’s history with TRT, Barnett was unaware of his opponent’s exemption when he spoke to MMAjunkie.com. He responded with sarcasm when told Mir was using prescribed testosterone. 

“Well, awesome,” Barnett said. “It’s great when you get to kick the crap out of somebody when they even have to go the extra mile and take additional supplements to try and beat you and get an exemption for it, when they’ve done everything they could possibly do, including towing the line of legality in a way. That’s awesome. If they want to give him brass knuckles, that might just up the stakes.”

However, Barnett, whose history likely will preclude him from ever receiving a TRT exemption, didn’t really believe Mir was attempting to gain an edge in their fight.

“I don’t think it’s specific to me,” he said. “I think there is an opportunity for this tactic, for lack of a better word. I don’t know Frank’s medical history, nor anybody else’s, really, so I’m not going to make any judgements on why they need to be on testosterone, but there are plenty of other fighters that are doing it, and it’s allowable and excused, so why wouldn’t he, I guess, if given the opportunity to do so?”

For both, the more important opportunity is an entry point into title contention. Barnett boldly declared that all previous titleholders were merely interim champs, while Mir welcomed the chance to climb the ladder. Neither is guaranteed a shot at the belt, but he who wins impressively will at least enter the conversation. 

And despite different choices on different paths, Mir and Barnett agree that testosterone isn’t the key to a performance that gets people talking. 

“I was still able to win fights,” Mir said. “There was never an issue as far as being an athlete. I’m only doing the medical [treatment] actually because of my personal life, how it keeps me as a healthier person and longevity and my day-to-day routine with my wife and my children. So as far as sports enhancement, we’re not anywhere near those levels. If anybody says that having a 600 is sports enhancing, I think they need to do a little more research.”

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(Pictured: Frank Mir and Josh Barnett)