Picture gets a little more clear on where Marquardt screwed up

In an effort to clear up his suspension by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission and firing by the UFC, Nate Marquardt spoke to one media outlet on Tuesday. Unfortunately, that still left plenty of unanswered questions.

Larry Pepe from PROMMARadio, a media member very familiar with the issue of PED's from his experience in the world of bodybuilding, joined ESPNRadio1100 in Las Vegas to discuss the issues he had with Marquardt's story.

According to Marquardt and is manager Lex McMahon, he was allowed to fight at UFC 128 in New Jersey even though he was in the midst of actually getting the therapeutic use exemption necessary for approved use of testosterone replacement therapy. The New Jersey State Athletic Commission Board allowed Marquardt to fight with the understanding that he would be tested before and after his fight against Dan Miller. That included going off TRT for eight weeks after the fight to find out if his normal testosterone levels warranted TRT use.

NJSACB legal counsel Nick Lembo said Marquardt went through the process and was officially denied the exemption last week and the news was delivered to the PSAC, last Friday, the day before the UFC on Versus 4 weigh-in. Why was he denied? That seems odd because Lembo also said the postfight testing actually justified Marquardt's use of TRT. So what went wrong?

MMAjunkie indicates that the hang up came with Camp Marquardt's choice of doctor.

All [tests] came back within the acceptable range per the NJSACB's guidelines on exemptions. When he sought to return to the therapy, however, he did so with his personal doctor, who is not an endocrinologist.

[...] Lex McMahon, Marquardt's manager, said the NJSACB had previously raised concerns about the treatment Marquardt was receiving.

"The commission sent a very clear statement that the doctor he was using had been incomplete, (and he) was using protocols that were not approved by the [U.S. Anti-Doping Agency]," McMahon said. "At that point in time, that should have been a significant indicator to go see a specialist, (and) to go see someone whose core competency was this.

"So I think that's another area where Nate and our team have to take responsibility."

So it sounds like this is far from a malicious act. Now will that be enough for Marquardt to gain forgiveness from the UFC? Only time will tell.

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