Luke Rockhold, a 28-year-old former Strikeforce champion is set to make his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut against 36-year-old Vitor Belfort on May 18th, and has dropped a bombshell allegation on Belfort mere days away from meeting him in the octagon.
In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Rockhold (10-1) pulled no punches. "Just look at his physique. Look at how he looks at [36 years old]. You can't tell me that at his age, something like that looks natural."
According to the Yahoo! report, Belfort (22-10), along with Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen have undergone testosterone replacement therapy, also known as TRT, which is legal in the UFC but clearly not approved of by all its combatants.
"TRT use is something I don't agree with at all," Rockhold said. "It's a way to get around the system. They say TRT is needed for low testosterone, that it's a medical condition. Well, what causes low testosterone? Prolonged steroid use is one cause. "It's frustrating to someone like me, who's fought clean, has no reason to cheat, and has done things the right way."
Belfort was suspended by the state of Nevada in 2006 after testing positive for 4-Hydroxytestosterone, a banned substance. Belfort was very unhappy with Rockhold's comments and voiced that displeasure to MMAFighting.com. "I think it's disrespectful, the way that he thinks," Belfort said. "But it is what it is. You cannot control it, you cannot control people."
Rockhold created a buzz quickly in Strikeforce, winning his first seven bouts with the promotion in the first round. Only two of his 11 professional fights have gone the distance, one of them being his last victory in July of 2012 over Tim Kennedy.
Belfort, on the other hand, is a UFC stalwart who has 15 knockouts among his 22 wins. Belfort lasted more than three rounds with light heavyweight champion Jon "Bones" Jones, who is the consensus top pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC two fights ago. In his last fight, in January, he knocked out Michael Bisping in the second round.
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