After being summoned to a Nevada State Athletic Commission hearing to provide his side of the story for skipping out on a random drug test, Wanderlei Silva feels that he has shed light on things and solved his problem with the NSAC.
Silva released a video on his YouTube page, featuring a few minutes of the NSAC meeting and gave his thoughts on how his appearance went.
“I am very happy to solve this situation,” Silva said in the video. “I was happy to clarify things and say the truth.”
UFC President Dana White told UFC.com that he does not think Silva is in the clear yet, and that Silva will still be punished for running from the test, saying:
I’m not the athletic commission, but I think he’s very wrong. I think he’s in big trouble. You cannot run away from a test. You can’t do it, and it sets a very bad precedent. He would have been better off taking the test and testing positive than running from the test. But I’m not a commission member. Maybe I’m wrong and he’s right. We’ll see what happens.
The UFC is leaving all discipline for the test-dodging up to the NSAC, and White said the promotion will be fine with whatever the commission does, saying:
Basically the Nevada State Athletic Commission is the judge and the jury, and they’re going to handle it. Whatever happens, he will have his sentence and do whatever the commission says. Once he’s through that, he and I will be cool.
Ross Goodman, Silva’s lawyer, spoke for the Pride legend at the meeting, and he explained to the commission that after fracturing his wrist during a scuffle with Chael Sonnen on the set of The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3, Silva “regretfully” began taking diuretics to reduce the swelling.
Goodman also mentioned that this was in fact the first time Silva had ever been asked for a random drug test at his gym, and that he avoided the test because he thought the diuretics would show up on the test results.
Of course we will never truly know what substances were in Silva’s system on that day, and lab results would be much more convincing than the explanations put forth by Silva and his legal counsel.
Also on the agenda of the NSAC was Chael Sonnen, who did not skip his random test for the proposed fight with Silva, and tested positive for two banned substances.
The commission issued Sonnen a temporary suspension and will decide the length of it at the next meeting, where they will presumably also make a final decision on Silva.
It will be interesting to see how the commission deals out punishments for the two men, as the length of any suspensions, or lack thereof, will send a clear message about the commission’s feelings on skipping a random drug test as opposed to taking it.
Here’s the entire portion of the NSAC meeting involving Silva:
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