UFC light heavyweight Wanderlei Silva says he has resolved his issues with the Nevada State Athletic Commission and is awaiting a matchup with either old rival Chael Sonnen or fellow Brazilian Vitor Belfort.
“The Axe Murderer” released a video on his YouTube channel explaining his take on Tuesday’s hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
“When they sent that guy to my gym I was still taking diuretics. And when you fail a test, people don’t want to know if it was diuretics or steroids. I don’t use PEDs or steroids, I have never used it and I’ve never had any problems in that area. I have never failed a doping test before. I have nothing to hide and I am glad we solved this … Now I’m waiting for Sonnen’s suspension to end or Belfort to get licensed. Let’s go to the next. I will keep training 100%.”
Silva was asked to appear at the hearing for refusing a random drug test last month, per MMA Fighting.
For the record, the Brazilian brawler has never failed a drug test for performance-enhancing drugs in 49 professional fights.
However, if he really plans on waiting for Sonnen or Belfort, Silva is probably going to be stuck on the sidelines for quite a while.
Sonnen retired from the sport after failing a random drug test for two anti-estrogenic drugs and appears content to work as a FOX Sports 1 analyst, for the time being at least.
“The American Gangster” was also handed a temporary suspension by the NSAC at the same Tuesday hearing, so it’s anyone’s guess when his punishment will be handed down or how severe it will be.
As far as Belfort is concerned, he was removed from the UFC 175 card in the midst of this whole mess, so he remains without a license from the NSAC, per MMA Junkie.
Belfort admitted that he failed a NSAC-issued random drug test in February for elevated levels of testosterone, but there is no telling what the repercussions of that will be until he applies for a fighter’s license.
Silva hasn’t fought since delivering a vintage knockout against Brian Stann at UFC on FUEL 8 in Japan last March, and he does’t look like he is going to be rebooked any time soon.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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