After the huge announcement that the Nevada State Athletic Commission has decided to ban testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) as well as remove any previously approved exemptions for athletes already using the treatment, the UFC has also made a huge change in their main event come May at UFC 173.
UFC 173 takes place May 24 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The main card will air on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. The new main event is now set with Lyoto Machida set to take on Chris Weidman for the UFC middleweight title.
“FOX Sports Live” broke the news late Thursday that Belfort voluntarily took himself out of the fight in the wake of the NSAC’s change in stance on TRT use.
“The Nevada State Athletic Commission recently altered its policy and no longer will permit testosterone use exemptions, and will not permit a TRT program,” Belfort said in a statement. “As other jurisdictions may follow suit, I am going to drop my TRT program and compete in MMA without it. Given the time constraints involved 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.”
Weidman has kept quiet about the whole TRT talk, but now that Belfort is out and Machida is in, the champ broke his silence.
“Machida is a dangerous fighter and he knows what it takes to become champion,” Weidman said. “He’s been on my radar since he drop to 185 pounds so I’m looking forward to defending my title against him at UFC 173 in May.”
Belfort was a on a 3 fight winning streak of destruction before being derailed. If he was the first one to beat Weidman, we all would have just been talking about the TRT thing. I think this was the right move for the UFC. The big question is, will Machida just run from Weidman or actually come to fight?
Ben McPhee (@mmawriter1 Twitter)