UFC light heavyweight prospect Robert Drysdale yesterday was denied a fight license by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after he flunked an out-of-competition drug test for an elevated T/E ratio. According to MMAjunkie.com‘s Steven Marrocco, who spoke with NSAC executive director Keith Kizer, Drysdale’s T/E ratio was 19.4 – 1. To put that in perspective, the NSAC limit for a T/E ratio is 6 – 1. The average male human is 1 – 1. And Alistair Overeem, who flunked an out-of-competition himself in early 2012, was 14 -1 . Basically, Drysdale screwed up here, because UFC president Dana White said earlier this year that even if a fighter was allowed to be on TRT, they still had to test under the acceptable limits, which Drysdale obviously didn’t do. According to Kizer, Drysdale applied for a TUE for TRT to treat his hypogonadism, but never officially received his exemption. That means that if Drysdale was taking TRT without permission then he was cheating, similar to what happened to Lavar Johnson at UFC 157 earlier this year (although in that case the commission didn’t catch him cheating until after the fight). As for a punishment for Drysdale, he hasn’t been suspended or fined yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me if we heard soon what the NSAC is planning on doing with him. It wouldn’t surprise me if Drysdale was released from his contract before he even fought in the UFC, which is disappointing since he’s one of the best BJJ guys competing in MMA right now, but you have to abide by the rules and clearly Drysdale wasn’t. By the way, Drysdale’s fight with Cody Donovan, which was set for UFC 167, is likely to be taken off that card, but hopefully the UFC can get Donovan a fight because this certainly wasn’t his fault that his opponent didn’t play within the rules. Cerrone Moving To 145 Donald Cerrone yesterday told reporters at the Denver Post that he will be making the move down to featherweight after his UFC 167 fight against Evan Dunham, which will be contested at Cerrone’s normal weight of 155. According to Cerrone, he doesn’t eat the cleanest at the moment so he believes that with a change in diet and harder work in the training room, he can make the 145-pound limit. I’m not so sure. To me, this is Cerrone trying to get a fresh start in a new division and make a run for a title because it was clear that although he’s a great lightweight, he was never going to break through to the top five and challenge for the belt. But if he makes the move down to 145, a path to a new title becomes clear. Personally I think Cerrone should just stay at 155 because he already looked like a guy who didn’t have much weight to lose, but as we’ve seen in the last few years, former 155 contenders moving to 145 is a trend and after this news from Cerrone yesterday, it’s clear the trend isn’t over.
