No Holds Barred: TRT, IOC, CTE, NHB

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses how much the decision by the Nevada State Athletic Commission to eliminate therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) is related to the attempt by Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, to get its amateur organization into SportAccord, the international federation of sports federations. SportAccord, along with the International Olympic Committee, requires federations to follow the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency, and all of these very, very rarely hand out TUEs for TRT for all sports, far less frequently than Zuffa and the Nevada commission have for just their own MMA events.

Also discussed is even more new information on the dangers of brain injuries and the risks of dementia and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in sports where there is head trauma, and how this remains the Achilles Heel of these sports. What happened to dueling in the 19th century, and smoking in the 20th century, is compared to what might happen to these combat sports with head strikes in the 21st century.

The month of March also marks several milestones, including the eighth anniversary of No Holds Barred as a podcast. Some of the plans for the show are discussed as well.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com

Very good. It did seem silly that UFC and NSAC would quit because of one article (no matter who wrote it). They want to play it clean to get into SportAccord and eventually the Olympics. Makes much more sense.
Never heard of IMMAF before. http://www.immaf.org/ Looking at them now, though, they do appear to be very much the globalist head of the UFC. The rules show that the matches will primarily be in an "MMA Ring" (cage) and the matches will be scored with the 10 point must system http://www.immaf.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/IMMAF-competition-rule-set-for-Amateur-Mixed-Martial-Arts-2013.pdf.

I am curious why you would equate the possible stigmatization of MMA to dueling? I too am a historian and philosopher, like yourself. My understanding of dueling was that it went out of practice not because of people suddenly discovering that it was hurting and killing people (you are comparing it to people discovering the horrors of head trauma in MMA and boxing), that was usually the point, but because of the first world war. All of the men had to fight in a giant war against enemy soldiers. Dueling did not get stigmatized (it went on even after laws were passed in some countries) it went out of practice.

I think dueling declined long before WW1, more like the early part of the 19th century.

Yes, there is a difference with smoking and MMA, where people are becoming more aware of the risks than previously. But there was a change in values, about the value of life and what are acceptable risks. People were living longer, anyway, so dying in your 30s or 40s was not a given.

My point is that I expect there to be a further change in values regarding these sports. With more knowledge and awareness about the risks, more people will look for other things to do, and watch. Fights may be exciting, but knockouts will be viewed differently than heroic acts; they will signify more tragedy or potential tragedy than anything else.

Even today, people smoke. I have close friends who smoke. The cigarette packages tell you it causes cancer, heart disease, etc., and we all know that is true. But they continue to smoke. And many people continue to ingest poison and drugs, as my friend Dr. Shaka Zulu says, disguised as food, like Crack-Donald's.

So they may not cease to exist, and it will take decades for these changes in culture to occur, but it is coming. Hopefully for fight fans robot combat will advance beyond its present state and, like in the movie "Real Steel", become a major sport. If not, wrestling and grappling will grow anyway.

nhbnews wrote:

So they may not cease to exist, and it will take decades for these changes in culture to occur, but it is coming. Hopefully for fight fans robot combat will advance beyond its present state and, like in the movie "Real Steel", become a major sport. If not, wrestling and grappling will grow anyway.

Robot fighting? Are you a fan? Can we expect a show about robot fighting in the future?