Wanderlei Silva’s next fight will either come outside of the U.S. or not until 2017 after the Nevada Athletic Commission handed down a three-year suspension retroactive to 2014 for the fighter.
Silva, who turns 40 years old later this year, has not competed inside the cage since knocking Brian Stann out in 2013 for the UFC.
This past January, UFC officials released “The Axe Murderer” from his fight contract after he issued an apology regarding “fight-fixing” in the promotion. Silva also had his lifetime banned overturned by the NAC back in 2015.
Silva’s legal troubles started after he refused to undergo a random drug test ahead of a planned fight with Chael Sonnen by the NAC. He was removed from the fight and replaced by Vitor Belfort at the time.
His decision to not take the random drug test resulted in the lifetime ban and a fine of $70,000 given to him by the NAC in 2014.
Rumors of a potential signing by Bellator for Silva started up and were amplified when he agreed to appear this week at a fan-fest event in Houston. He is also rumored for a move back to Japan for the Rizin promotion, which holds the contract of Fedor Emelianenko.