Ben Rothwell knows a thing or two about performance enhancing drugs.
The UFC heavyweight contender was suspended nine months following his TKO victory over Brandon Vera at UFC 164 due to elevated levels of testosterone. Rothwell was undergoing testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) and had a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) to compete as such, but still tested high.
2-0 since then, Rothwell hasn't shown any ill effects of being off TRT, at least not in the win column. He's just not so sure the rest of the heavyweight division will be as fortunate.
"Before USADA, I would say 80 percent or more heavyweights were on performance-enhancing drugs," Rothwell told ESPN's Brett Okamoto. "Let's just look at the facts. Bigger athletes don't like to train the way we do. This sport is exhausting. Big guys come and go all the time because they hate the hard work. The ones who survive seem to think they need steroids and PEDs to cope with the training."
"These guys are changing. They're not the same," Rothwell said. "You see the Alistair [Overeem] and Junior dos Santos fight [in December], even when they get on the scale, the way they fought -- there are a lot of changes. Travis Browne just struggled to beat a guy [Matt Mitrione] I trashed in two minutes. There are a lot of changes going on right now in this division and I'm excited to be a part of it."
LINK: Morning Report: Ben Rothwell takes a shot at UFC heavyweights over PED use
