The saga between Wanderlei Silva and the Nevada Athletic Commission has taken another turn.
On Monday, a Nevada district court handed the former PRIDE 205-pound champion a partial victory in his battle with NAC, stating that the NAC’s lifetime ban for refusing to submit to a drug test was excessive.
While tossing the lifetime ban, however, the court also ruled NAC still has jurisdiction over Silva and ordered a new hearing for the fighter.
Silva, and his legal team, however, are disputing NAC’s jurisdiction, and will appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court. MMAFighting.com‘s Ariel Helwani reported the new development on Wednesday’s edition of UFC Tonight.
Silva’s attorney, Ross Goodman, believes the NAC does not have the authority to rule over an unlicensed fighter.
“We are very confident in our position that the NSAC [sic] cannot discipline a person not licensed before them,” Silva’s attorney, Ross Goodman, stated. While we are pleased that the Judge found the NSAC [sic] violated Mr. Silva’s rights by imposing an arbitrary sanction of a life time ban, the Court unfortunately did not focus or even address the specific statutory provisions expressly providing that licensure is a pre-requisite before the NSAC [sic] has jurisdiction to discipline someone.”