5 Reasons NSAC Should Have Declined Vitor Belfort's License Request

By Jay Anderson /

5. Pride 32 - 4-Hydroxytestosterone

Back in 2006, at Pride 32, Vitor Belfort took on Dan Henderson. He lost the fight via unanimous decision, and to add insult to injury, he also tested positive for a banned substance: 4-Hydroxytestosterone. 4-Hydroxytestosterone is an anabolic steroid, which are obviously banned by just about any athletic commission anywhere. Belfort initially dragged out the old "it was in a supplement I bought" excuse for the failure, and after that, blamed it on an injection given to him by a doctor. Brazilian endocrinologist Dr. Rodrigo M. Greco did confirm to the NSAC that he injected the drug into Belfort to help heal a torn miniscus, but frankly, it is an athlete's job to ensure they know what is going in their body, and to make sure nothing banned goes in - and that includes asking their doctor(s) what is being injected/prescribed at any given time. The NSAC felt the same, and Belfort was suspended nine months and fined $10,000. With a history like this, in their jurisdiction, the NSAC really should have looked a little harder at the case.