While his upcoming opponent Michael Bisping might think differently, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva doesn’t believe a failed drug test will define the success he’s enjoyed throughout his mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think it affects my legacy, but this last year I haven’t spoken much because I’ve been focusing on my training and my fight,” Silva told MMA Fighting.
As the story goes, “The Spider” failed a couple of drug tests in the aftermath of what was a unanimous-decision victory — now a No Contest — over Nick Diaz at the UFC 183 pay-per-view (PPV) in Jan. 2015. A subsequent legal circus and an amusing defense resulted in retroactive one-year suspension dating back to the date of the PPV, as well as a $380,000 fine.
Then, upon the turn of the new year, Silva was matched up with “The Count” as part of a UFC Fight Night 84 headliner, which will take place tomorrow afternoon (Sat., Feb. 27, 2016) inside O2 Arena in London, England.
Bisping had always wanted to face the Brazilian striker, but unfortunately came up short in a pair of title eliminator bouts against Dan Henderson and Chael Sonnen in his career. The bashful Brit is currently on a two-fight win streak, with victories over former title challenger Thales Leites and C.B. Dollaway.
Silva is collectively 0-2-(1) in his last three Octagon contests. However, prior to his downhill slide, Silva collected 17 consecutive wins over the likes of Chael Sonnen (twice), Yushin Okami, Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson.
Who do you like, Maniacs?
For continuous coverage of the entire UFC Fight Night 84 card, including live results and play-by-play, click here and here.