Anderson Silva insists he didn’t take steroids at UFC 183 and says he was unable to express himself during the NAC hearing.
One year has passed since Anderson Silva tested positive for steroids at UFC 183, but the failed drug test is still fresh in the mind of his UFC Fight Night 84 opponent, Michael Bisping.
“The Count” scolded Silva at the weigh-ins yesterday and called the former middleweight champion a fraud: “This man is a cheat. This man is a fraud. And I will make you pay for your mistakes tomorrow night my friend. All the needles in your ass, all the steroids will not help you, you p*ssy,” Bisping said.
“The Spider”, however, has maintained his innocence throughout the ordeal and insists that he never took any performance enhancing drugs. His bizarre defense at the NAC hearing in August was ridiculed by the MMA community and the 40-year-old became the subject of sexual jokes.
Silva said the reason for testing positive was because of a sexually enhancing blue vial he received from a friend in Thailand, but the Nevada Athletic Commission were adamant in their conviction. The former pound for pound #1 was sentenced to a one-year ban and was fined $380,000.
Silva spoke to ESPN recently and claimed he wasn’t able to express himself at the NAC hearing.
“The biggest part is I wasn’t able to express what really happened,” Silva said. “I walked away from that hearing looking like a liar, but I was telling the truth the whole time.”
His longtime manager Ed Soares also claims Silva was telling the truth, and says lots of things were mistranslated and poorly handled.
“I was in that hearing the whole time,” Soares said. “I know he was telling the truth and, unfortunately, a true story looked like a lie. So many things happened during that hearing that were unfixable. For example, the translator. His translator came out and immediately started the whole hearing off on the wrong foot.
“The first question was, ‘Can you explain why you were taking the substance?’ Anderson said, ‘I’s a private matter. It’s personal.’ The translator turns around and says, ‘I’m not saying anything.’ So, they thought he was pleading the Fifth and refusing to answer,” Soares said.
Anderson Silva will square off with Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC Fight Night 84 later today at the O2 Arena in London, England.