This is a really solid card. Cerrone-Dos Anjos as the main event with Overeem-Dos Santos in the co-main. Nate Diaz and Michael Johnson could be a fun bout as well. But to me, the most newsworthy thing about this card is the fact that Nate Marquardt fresh off of quitting on his stool against Kevin Gastelum in June, is slated to face CB Dollaway at this event. I'm not one to propose telling a guy when to quit but Nate took a brutal, sad beating in that fight. I really thought he would call it quits. Nevertheless, it will be fun to see Overeem knocked out again. Dos Santos is truly like a freaking terminator. The dude can take a helluva a beating and remain dangerous for 5 rounds. Overeem doesn't even have a punchers chance.
I've been excited about JDS / Overeem for years. It seems less exciting with Overeem's recent knockout losses, but it should be a good fight for a few minutes. JDS should walk through whatever Overeem can land and get the knockout win. He will land some big shots at some point. Overeem can't handle his power. Cerrone / RDA should be a good fight. I'm pulling for Cowboy. RDA has surprised me lately. I didn't think he had what it took to be a champion when he first joined the UFC. Diaz / Johnson will be fun. I'm hoping Nate takes this seriously and comes in for this fight in top shape. He can win this if he's on top of his game, like he was in the Cerrone fight. Nate Marquardt is one of my all time favorite fighters. I don't want to see him fight again especially this soon after losing so badly in June. He's lost 5 out of his last 6, 3 of them by knockout / TKO. He's not who he used to be.
Marquardt is a juicing cheater. Speaking of cheaters, Juiced Overeem would have an excellent chance against Dos Santos. Agree he has very little otherwise.
Marquardt was on TRT approved by a doctor. They made a mistake once where his testosterone level was just over the allowed limit at the time of the fight. He wasn't on testosterone for most of his career. Nate might still be a top fighter if TRT was allowed in the sport now. It's not, and he's not. Overeem was a bigger juicer when he was in Dream / K1 / Strikeforce. Overeem's transformation from a scrawny light heavyweight to a ripped 265 pounder might be the most obvious example of steroid use in combat sports.
Fighters who need TRT in the first place are cheaters. His 'mistake' was taking testosterone in the first place that made his body shut down production. Cases where this isn't true are rare to the point of not worth mentioning. If anyone wants to defend himself with TRT, they should have to provide medical documentation, probably going back to puberty.
TRT was allowed in the UFC at the time Marquardt was on it. They made a mistake and he tested just over the legal limit at the time. I think it was a mistake in this case, not intentional cheating. None of that matters anymore. TRT isn't allowed anymore in the UFC. This whole argument is over for all future fights. Everyone in the UFC will now have their natural hormone levels, or they'll be cheating and trying to beat the drug tests.
You do realize that, beyond the TRT, Marquardt was popped for high levels of nandrolone in his fight against Salaverry, right? There is no doubt Marquardt juiced like a mofo in Pancrase. TRT was just a way for Nate to continue cheating legally.
Clearly, that was a case where his coach accidently slipped some nandrolone cream into the lotion they used for his post-workout massages. Anyone could make that mistake. TRT can be an advantage to any fighter who's getting older and slower. Boosting your testosterone levels up to where they were at 18 feels great. You can work harder, recover faster, and make more progress overall compared to your shitty mid-30s natural testosterone levels. I went on TRT at 32. Best decision of my life. Now I'm 40, and I have the sex drive and ambition for life of someone half my age. I'm stronger than literally everyone half my age. Banning it from the UFC might be a good thing. It levels the playing field again. Most 40 year olds won't be able to compete at the highest levels anymore. Maybe that's how it should be. I'd still like to see competing organizations implement different rules. Let the UFC ban TRT and all other performance enhancing drugs. Let some other organization accept the use of steroids and let the fighters do what they want. We'll have a naturals division and an enhanced division. I wonder which group will have the better fighters, the more exiting fights, and the larger fan base.
However you explain it, he failed a drug test way before the TRT issue. I suppose it can happen to anyone, but it rarely does. TRT is a great thing but not in professional sports. If you can't naturally compete at the highest level, then guess what, you're just not meant to be competing at the highest levels.
I was joking about explaining it away. Taking nandrolone in the UFC in 2005 was cheating. I had forgotten about that. I thought the "cheating" thing was referring to TRT when that was still allowed. Some TRT doctors actually prescribe low dose nandrolone to heal joint issues. It's legal in terms of medicine, but it has never been legal in the UFC as far as I know.
