The Nevada State Athletic Commission held a meeting on Thursday in Las Vegas and a motion was passed to ban therapeutic use exemptions for testosterone replacement therapy.
The motion was made by commissioner Skip Avansino and was later supported by commissioned Pat Lundvall.
The commission would go on to unanimously approve the motion and any fighter that previously had an exemption will no longer be allowed to be on the treatment.
The ban on the exemption will go into effect immediately and the NSAC hopes fellow athletic commissions will follow suit.
After the motion was passed in Nevada, TheMMAReport.com reached out to Pennsylvania Athletic Commission Executive Director Greg Sirb and he applauds the decision made by Nevada.
“I applaud it,” Sirb told TheMMAReport.com. “In Pennsylvania, we have never given one. We have never given one out. To me, TUE’s is just a slippery slope. I just don’t know where you stop when you give them out. I applaud Nevada and I think it’s the step in the right direction.”
This ban comes the same week that Mike Fish of ESPN.com released an investigative piece on the use of testosterone replacement therapy in mixed martial arts.
Notable fighters in mixed martial arts that have been granted a therapeutic use exemptions for testosterone replacement therapy are Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Frank Mir, Forrest Griffin, Quinton Jackson, Joe Warren, and Antonio Silva.
Following the decision of the NSAC, UFC President Dana White released a statement that the UFC fully supports the decision to ban testosterone replacement therapy.
“The Ultimate Fighting Championship fully supports the decision made today by the Nevada State Athletic Commission regarding the immediate termination of therapeutic use exemptions (TUE) for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT),” White said. “We believe our athletes should compete based on their natural abilities and on an even playing field. We also intend to honor this ruling in international markets where, due to a lack of governing bodies, the UFC oversees regulatory efforts for our live events. We encourage all athletic commissions to adopt this ruling.”
Stay tuned for updates on this story.