UFC Fight News and Rumors 2016: Nevada State Athletic Commission Suspends Wanderlei Silva for Three Years
Wanderlei Silva admitted to evading a drug examination almost two years ago, in an incident wherein drug testing collectors showed up to his gym in May for a random test ahead of his scheduled fight against Chael Sonnen. He later was forced to admit that he took a banned diuretic, which prompted him to escape knowing that it could result to a positive test.
The initial response from the Nevada State Athletic Commission was the stiffest penalty that can be handed out to a fighter — a lifetime ban. So it should be relatively good news for him to learn that the lifetime ban has been reduced to a three-year suspension.
The veteran mixed martial artist appealed his case in a Nevada court, where a judge overturned the initial decision, explaining that the athletic commission exceeded the boundaries of its authority. He ordered the commission to conduct another hearing and hand out a revised penalty for Silva.
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After months of delays, the commission eventually gave the case attention with Ross Goodman serving as the Brazilian fighter's attorney. Silva's camp argued the same thing during the first case, which was the fact that he was not a licensed fighter in Nevada at that time when the test was to be administered, and as such, he shouldn't be covered by any penalty the commission imposes.
Silva appeared to have lost the motion once again when the commissioners immediately denied it. However, they conducted a deliberation and agreed that the former UFC middleweight star should be given a three-year suspension instead.
Among the conditions of the suspension is that he is required to hand out a clean drug test once he has a fight scheduled in Nevada. His eligibility for the application of a new license in the state will start in May 2017. Also, the commission withdrew the imposition of the $70,000 fine on him since he did not earn from the canceled bout with Sonnen.
