We hear it all the time athletes in the UFC and MMA in general speaking out against steroids and the potential damage that a fighter could cause being on performance enhancing drugs. They become faster and stronger meaning that their punches and kicks become even more lethal. One example of this is Michael Bisping, a fight against Vitor Belfort in 2013 left him with a detached retina and ‘permanently disfigured’ according to Bisping himself.
Although it wasn’t proven at the time that Belfort was using steroids he was in fact using TRT (testosterone replacement therapy), a practice linked to steroid use and one which has since been banned.
Speaking to the Three Amigos Podcast Bisping had the following to say regarding the incident,
“We all know the dangers of this sport. I mean, we’re trying to knock each other out. I’ve been left permanently disfigured, if you will, from my fight with Vitor Belfort. Vitor Belfort head kicked me and that’s what caused my detached retina. Since then, I’ve had five surgeries, and my eye is never going to look the same again. That was one of the reasons why I said I was never fighting anybody else with a steroid history.”
Recently ‘The Count’ has been linked to Anderson Silva. For years Bisping wanted a crack at UFC gold and Silva just so happened to be champ for nearly all of Bisping’s run in the UFC. The Englishman has stated on social media that he no longer wants to face Silva due to his test failure from earlier this year and stated the Belfort fight as a reason. Silva received a one-year ban for PED use and is expected to be fighting again in the new year. But Bisping had a change of tone after some fan abuse on social media and he said he would fight Silva to shut everyone up essentially.
“Well, fuck it. If the UFC wants to make the fight, I’ll do the fight. I’m not scared. I really don’t have anything to prove to these people, but it just kind of pissed me off. If the UFC wants to make this fight, I’m all for it. Let’s do it.”