Anderson Silva and Nick Diaz have requested continuances for their hearings before the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The news on Silva was first reported by Combate and was then confirmed by Marc Raimondi of MMAFighting.com to be true for Diaz as well. Both men, who failed drug tests administered by Las Vegas’ sanctioning body surrounding their bout at UFC 183, are facing fines and suspensions for the transgressions, and they sought more time to prepare a defense ahead of the hearing.
The requests were granted, according to MMAFighting.com, and both of their hearings have been pushed back from next week until some time in April.
NAC executive director Bob Bennett tells me Nick Diaz, like Anderson Silva, has been granted a continuance http://t.co/ueL4Ov74Z3
— Marc Raimondi (@marc_raimondi) March 18, 2015
For those who missed it, both halves of the UFC 183 main event failed post-fight drug tests. Silva tested positive for the anabolic steroid drostanolone, as well as medications oxazepam and temazepam. He was also flagged for two anabolic steroids, drostanolone and androstane, in a pre-fight drug test. Diaz, on the other hand, was well over the NSAC’s legal allowance for marijuana.
News that Silva had failed a drug test shook MMA to its core, and it shone a new light on the PED epidemic that still afflicts MMA. Regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, fans and fighters alike scrambled to make sense of the news. For Diaz, however, commission hearings are hardly news. The former Strikeforce champion has twice been disciplined for his unrepentant marijuana use.
While Diaz and Silva have been taken off of the NSAC’s next meeting agenda, Hector Lombard remains accounted for. The welterweight contender tested positive for designer steroids following a test administered for Lombard’s UFC 182 bout opposite Josh Burkman.
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