Photo courtesy: UFC
USADA announced on Wednesday that former middleweight champion Anderson Silva has accepted a one-year suspension stemming from an out-of-competition drug test failure in October 2017.
Silva was able to successfully prove that he took a contaminated supplement that contained two unmarked substances that are prohibited by USADA. Silva purchased the compounded dietary supplement from a Brazilian compounding pharmacy that marketed the supplement as a safe alternative and did not list the substances that Silva tested positive.
Silva provided a urine sample to USADA on October 26th, 2017 that came back positive for Methyltestosterone (classified as an anabolic agent) and hydrochlorothiazide (categorized under Diuretics and Masking Agents).
Silva produced a batch of the supplement, which was tested by a WADA-accredited laboratory and confirmed the presence of the unmarked substances in the sample.
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Silva’s one-year suspension is retroactive to November 10th, 2017 and he will be eligible to fight after November 10th this year.
The drug test failure forced the UFC to remove Silva from his scheduled main event against Kelvin Gastelum last November for the Fight Night card in Shanghai, China and led to Michael Bisping replacing Silva.
This was Silva’s second positive drug test, with the first occurring after his fight with Nick Diaz in January 2015 where he failed an out-of-competition test prior to the fight and his fight night test. His win over Diaz was changed to a no contest and Silva was also fined his entire win bonus and 30% of his show money for the bout.
Silva was facing a four-year suspension for this second infraction, which would have ended his career.
Silva is now 43 years old and his last fight was a unanimous decision victory over Derek Brunson in February 2017.
In a statement to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Silva stated, “Today I have a renewed energy. My legacy is restored. I can focus on getting back into the ring and the next chapter of my life after fighting. I want to thank my family and fans for all of their love and unwavering support. I am excited for where future will take me and look forward to sharing the journey with all of them”.
