Wanderlei Silva was given an indefinite or lifetime ban by the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) on Tuesday. He was also given a fine of $70,000, which represented a 35 percent fine of the purse he was originally scheduled to receive at UFC 175 had he competed.
The commission voted unanimously to render judgement. Silva was not in attendance at the hearing and was represented by his attorney, Ross Goodman.
Silva, 38, was subject to a random drug screening in Nevada ahead of his scheduled bout with Chael Sonnen at UFC 175, but ran from the testers. At a subsequent hearing, Silva admitted to running from the test as well as taking diuretics, which he claimed was to help with inflammation with another injury.
Goodman first argued the NAC did not have the regulatory authority to punish Silva as he was unlicensed at the time of the test and Nevada regulations do not provide oversight for fighters without licenses. That challenge was dismissed and after the disciplinary hearing, Silva’s punishment was handed down.
Notably, Silva released a YouTube video on Friday where he said he was retiring from the sport due to issues he said were related to mistreatment from the UFC.
According to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, Silva intends to appeal the decision.