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Vitor Belfort dropped out of his upcoming UFC middleweight title shot on Thursday a few hours after the Nevada Athletic Commission banned testosterone replacement therapy. Belfort was scheduled to fight 185-pound champion Chris Weidman at UFC 173 on May 24. His title shot was given to Lyoto Machida by UFC President Dana White. UFC 173 is the next major card in Las Vegas, the UFCs hometown. The influential Nevada commission voted unanimously on Thursday to stop granting therapeutic use exemptions for TRT, closing a widely criticized loophole that allowed mixed martial arts fighters to compete on steroids. "As other jurisdictions may follow suit, I am going to drop my TRT program and compete in MMA without it," Belfort said in a statement provided to Fox, the UFCs broadcast partner. "Given the time constraints involved between now and my proposed next bout in May, I have determined not to apply for a license to fight in Nevada at this time." The 36-year-old Belfort has been open about his use of synthetic testosterone in recent years. His sanctioned steroid use has coincided with a career resurgence for the former UFC light heavyweight champion, who won three consecutive bouts by early-round knockout in 2013 while fighting in his native Brazil. Belfort claimed he needed TRT because of low testosterone, an argument which generated wide criticism because he failed a drug test for elevated testosterone in 2006 following a bout in Las Vegas for the Pride promotion against Dan Henderson, another acknowledged TRT user. Use of performance-enhancing drugs can lower the users natural testosterone levels. Belfort hadnt fought in Nevada since February 2011, before his announced TRT use began. He had intended to apply for an exemption to use synthetic testosterone before UFC 173. White and the UFC have been increasingly critical of TRT use in recent months, with White telling The Associated Press in January he supported the elimination of therapeutic use exemptions for testosterone. White hailed the Nevada commissions ruling Thursday. "We believe our athletes should compete based on their natural abilities and on an even playing field," White said. "We also intend to honour this ruling in international markets where, due to a lack of governing bodies, the UFC oversees regulatory efforts for our live events. We encourage all athletic commissions to adopt this ruling." The Nevada commission had granted therapeutic use exemptions for several fighters in recent years, including contenders Chael Sonnen and Frank Mir, but had never approved synthetic testosterone for a fighter who had failed a drug test for anabolic steroids. Machida is another former UFC light heavyweight champion from Brazil. He is getting a title shot against Weidman in just his third bout at 185 pounds after winning four of his last five fights overall. Weidman took the title from longtime UFC champion Anderson Silva last July and defended it in a rematch in December when Silva broke his leg while kicking Weidmans knee. Weidman has been critical of Belforts testosterone use, once saying Belfort "looks like the Hulk now" and hoping the UFC wouldnt schedule their bout in Brazil, where drug testing is considered much less stringent than in the U.S. Manny Sanguillen Jersey . Toronto announced the deal with the restricted free agent on Saturday. The terms were not disclosed. Jameson Taillon Jersey . HEROES Alex Ovechkin – Scored a pair of goals in Washington’s 4-0 win over Pittsburgh. With 13 goals in the past 13 games, Ovechkin now has 29 goals on the season to lead the league. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/722e-...ey-pirates.html. Lineup news, Fantasy and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES St. Louis Blues – After rolling the San Jose Sharks for seven goals, for the second time in a week, the Blues have a bunch of players on hot streaks. Connie Mack Jersey . Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. Paul Waner Jersey . According to various reports, the striker is about to sign a five-and-a-half year extension with Manchester United worth a reported 300,000 pounds a week that would see him at Old Trafford until 2019.ORLANDO - Julio Cesar would have preferred a different start to his Toronto FC career. The Brazilian international goalkeeper was beaten twice in the first 12 minutes of his Reds debut in a 3-1 preseason loss to Columbus Crew in Florida earlier this week. There wasnt much Cesar could do about Federico Higuains excellent free-kick, or the thunderbolt from Josh Williams that followed shortly after. Despite conceding the goals, it was a relatively quiet afternoon for the World Cup winner. Cesar was rarely called into action, but that didnt mean he wasnt involved. When Toronto FC announced Cesars signing on loan from Queens Park Rangers last week, Reds head coach Ryan Nelsen talked about the leadership and organizational skills the veteran will bring. That was clearly evident in Orlando against Columbus as Cesar talked his way through the game, managing his teammates in front of him. "It is part of the job of the goalkeeper because he can watch all of the games," Cesar told me following the game at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney. "Many times I like to talk with my defenders and the midfield. We need to work hard tactically especially. The most important thing is to understand the coach and what he wants. "I am a little sad because it was my first game and we lost, but I am happy because I am back to playing after eight months and that was tough for me. I am really happy because the coach gave me the opportunity to start with the team." A key figure amongst the defenders in front of Cesar will be club captain Steven Caldwell, and the former Scottish international is well aware of what the Brazilian can bring to the team. "Its fantastic to have him behind us with his experience," said Caldwell. "Hes very comfortable on the ball and strong playing out of the back. Its going to be a great experience for everybody who has the privilege to play with Julio and so far he justt seems like a fantastic guy.dddddddddddd. Were all going to learn off him and it is an honour for this football club to have him play for us." One of the things that has been lacking in past seasons at Toronto FC has been leadership on the pitch, but that certainly cant be said about this squad of players. With Cesar in goal and Caldwell in the centre of defence they have two excellent communicators. When you add in US international Michael Bradley as the general in the centre of midfield, TFC has a very strong leadership core. "You want every guy taking a big role in the team with personality and leadership and commitment," said Bradley. "When you walk in that locker room there is a team full of guys who are ready to do that, so thats nothing but positive." Toronto FCs next test in preseason is on Saturday when they will return to action in Florida in their second match of the Walt Disney World Pro Soccer Classic against hometown team Orlando City. Management and players alike will be hoping to see further improvement and progression as the team builds towards its March 15 season opener in Seattle. "For us its about building the understanding and working on the things we have been working on in training," said Dwayne De Rosario. "We will continue to build and there is still a long way to go. The game (against Columbus) brought us back to reality and showed us things that we need to work on. Now we need to improve on those things that they exposed us on. Were where we want to be but there is still a lot to do." "Against Columbus we had a few guys that were having their first minutes of preseason," said head coach Ryan Nelsen. "We needed to see a few of the weaknesses that we have so that we can work on it. Theyve just got to play together. They have to get used to each other and get minutes under their belt. We will progress on from here." ' ' '