Luke Rockhold Pegs Vitor Belfort A Cheater Due To TRT Use

Luke Rockhold doesn’t believe fighters should be allowed to use testosterone replacement therapy, even if it’s been prescribed and watched-over by medical personnel.

Rockhold, though, will have to face a fighter on TRT this Saturday when he meets Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 8.

The former Strikeforce middleweight champion will be making his Octagon debut against Belfort in “The Phenom’s” native country of Brazil.

“I don’t necessarily trust him,” said Rockhold, during an interview with ESPN. “I don’t necessarily trust the system. Do I think he is cheating? Yes, I do. Do I care? Yes and no.”

Rockhold said he believes TRT can “help in some ways, but it can also hurt you. I think it gives you some explosiveness and it can give you strength.”

Belfort was allowed to use TRT prior to defeating Michael Bisping earlier this year. There has been much talk concerning this, as he failed a previous drug test in Nevada for steroids.

In the same interview, Rockhold’s trainer, Javier Mendez of American Kickboxing Academy, admitted that he uses TRT.

I wasn’t going to tell anyone this, but I will tell you. I am on TRT. I think its cheating. It gives you a slight advantage over the people who aren’t on it. The recovery time is much faster, and that means you can get back to training harder and you can train harder.

Does it concern you that someone so close to Rockhold – and the rest of AKA, which includes Cain Velasquez and Daniel Cormier – uses TRT?

 

Bellator MMA, Spike TV Announce Cast For ‘Fight Master’ Series

Bellator MMA will dip into the world of reality series television in June with “Fight Master: Bellator MMA.”

The program, which will feature welterweights competing for a spot in an upcoming Bellator tournament, will include legendary fighters and trainers Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Joe Warren and Greg Jackson as coaches.

The series begins June 19 at 10 p.m. ET on Spike TV and the list of fighters scheduled to be part of it was announced on Monday.

Those selected include: Marcus Aurelio, Nick Barnes, Eric Bradley, Mike Bronzoulis, Frank Carrillo, Darryl Cobb, Christopher Curtis, Evan Cutts, Mike Dubois, Tom Gallicchio, Ismael Gonzalez, Gareth Joseph, Chris Lozano, AJ Matthews, Rob Mills, Steve Montgomery, Chip Moraza-Pollard, Brett Nakamura, Jason Norwood, Dom O’Grady, Jacob Ortiz, Josh Quayhagen, Joe Riggs, Eric Scallan, Cristiano Souza, Brendan Tierney, Bryan Travers, Andy Uhrich, Tim Welch, Cole Williams, Joe Williams and Artenas Young.

 

Greg Jackson Feels Jon Jones At Heavyweight Would Be A Welcome Challenge

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Greg Jackson has built himself an empire in New Mexico, as Jackson’s MMA features several of the elite fighters in the world.

Leading the way is UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. Fresh off his fifth successful title defenses, Jones continued to hint at a possible move to heavyweight in the future.

With his body and age, it appears as if it’s only a matter of time before “Bones” dukes it out with the big boys of the UFC – and Jackson is welcoming that decision.

“I’m okay with whatever they want to do. If he wants to do that, then I’ll help him out,” said Jackson, during a recent appearance on The MMA Hour. “I’ve always said that it’s up to the fighters and the management. It’s my job to figure out how we’re going to do that. If that’s the parameters they want to give, that’s what I do. I actually enjoy that; anything different is good.”

Jones seems interested in a possible super-fight with Anderson Silva before any move to heavyweight. The division is currently ruled by fellow former Iowa Central Community College NJCAA national champion Cain Velasquez.

 

Cung Le Leaves AKA

Cung Le offers up a little insight as to why he parted ways with AKA. While Le holds them in high regard still, he felt the need to separate himself from what he felt to be a gym surrounded by ego.

 

No Matter What, Nate Diaz Is Leaving Lightweight Division

Nate Diaz has made a few changes within his camp. Most notably dropping Cesar Gracie as his manager. With these changes, Diaz feels more changes are to follow, as he claims to be leaving 155 with a win or loss at UFC on Fox 7.

 

Alistair Overeem Clears Any Rumors Concerning Blackzilians Departure

Alistair Overeem isn’t jumping ship from the Blackzilians.

On his Twitter page, Overeem caused a bit of a turn from the old rumor mill by posting several messages about his being in The Netherlands. The former Strikeforce heavyweight champion squashed talk of his departure from the Miami-based team Wednesday.

Overeem was removed from a planned bout with Junior dos Santos in May due to a training injury. He is expected to return this summer.

Well, thank the heavens Overeem is staying with the Blackzilians. That camp needs all the guys they can keep right now.

 

AKA Trainer Luke Rockhold, Daniel Cormier ‘On Brink Of Greatness’

Javier Mendez boasts current UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez and ex-Olympian Daniel Cormier among those that train under him at American Kickboxing Academy.

The crew at AKA has had a strong run in both the UFC and Strikeforce over the recent year, as Luke Rockhold was also a champion before Strikeforce closed.

“I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to have had the number of fighters and talent that have come to my gym,” said Mendez, during a recent interview with MMAMania.com. “Some of the fighters that I am especially proud of are Cain Velasquez, Josh Thomson, Phil Baroni and Mike Swick.”

While the team has seen fighters come and go, they remain relevant with the likes of Rockhold and Cormier, who Mendez said “are on the brink of greatness because of their unbelievable talent and drive to win.”

So, is AKA one of the best – if not the best – camps out there right now?

Photo credit: Esther Lin/MMA Fighting

 

Greg Jackson On Upcoming Jon Jones-Chael Sonnen Bout: There Are A Lot Of Danger Zones With Sonnen

Not many people believe Chael Sonnen will be able to solve the unsolvable puzzle that is UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

The two will collide later this month at UFC 159 in New Jersey, despite Sonnen not having recorded a win at 205 pounds in years.

Still, Jones’ trainer, Greg Jackson, knows that the outspoken one holds many interesting cards in his stack, as he told BloodyElbow.com recently.

There are a lot of danger zones with Chael. Chael is tougher than a lot of people give him credit for. When we didn’t want to fight him on three days notice or whatever, we’d never fight anybody on such short notice for somebody at Jon Jones level. People think he doesn’t have any punching power, but then you see him drop Anderson Silva. Once he gets on top of you, it’s trouble, and a lot of guys can’t seem to get around that ground and pound style, so if you don’t do things correctly with him, you get in trouble real quick.

The two were coaches on the most recent season of The Ultimate Fighter, allowing each access to the other. Jackson believes he knows exactly where Sonnen will try to strike come fight night.

We have to make sure we take him very seriously. He’s a very tough opponent and he’s very smart. He’s going to try to negate the length and push the fight forward, and we have to be ready for that. We have to be ready for a 25 minute, all out war. He’s going to try to wear Jon down with his cardio. We have to be ready for all of those eventualities to make sure that Jon is on point and ready and can execute his gameplan. It’s not going to be an easy fight.

So, do you feel Sonnen can take Jones down like he did Anderson Silva, finishing the job this time? Or will it be a record-tying performance for “Bones.”

 

GSP’s Trainer Questions How Much Longer Champion Can Go

Firas Zahabi, the head trainer for UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, sees the light at the end of the tunnel for his fighter – should he continue at the same pace.

Outside of spending time on the sidelines due to his recent knee issues, St-Pierre hasn’t taken much time off. He is a known workout warrior, and has even thought about trying out for the Olympics to represent his country.

However, all of that is taking a toll on the body of GSP, as evident by his knee surgery. Zahabi, in an interview with Sherdog.com, talked about what changes could be in store for St-Pierre down the road.

“He’s giving up a lot of free time and leisure time and experiences he could be having in life to maintain his title, to maintain this excellence. It’s a difficult thing to do,” he continued. “He’s going to have to make that choice one fight at a time. Does he want to go through another training camp? Right now at this time, yes, for sure. There’s no doubt in my mind he wants to do another one, but down the line, two or three more training camps, is he still going to want to do it? That’s up to him. Does he still have the fire and the passion? We’ll see.”

So, is GSP working too hard, or is this the kind of time that needs to be devoted to be one of the best in the world?

 

Melvin Guillard Departs From Blackzilians, Returns To Train With Greg Jackson

Melvin Guillard’s recent string of bad luck has left him pondering his future.

However, he won’t be doing that at the Blackzilians camp in Florida, as Guillard has returned to New Mexico to train with Greg Jackson.

Guillard seemed like a top prospect in the lightweight division after stringing together five straight victories from 2010-11. Since that time, though, he has gone just 1-4, including back-to-back defeats in 2012.

Returning to Jackson’s gym can only help Guillard, as the Blackzilians have not fared the greatest in recent fights inside the Octagon.