Fighters Only

Issue 127

April 2015

Silva’s failed PED tests force UFC into action

According to a report released by the Nevada State Athletic Commission, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva not only failed his pre-fight drug test for his fight against Nick Diaz at UFC 183, he also failed his post-fight drug test too.

Silva initially failed his pre-fight test when he tested positive for drostanolone metabolites and androstane in his system. The NSAC confirmed that his post-fight drug test, once again, showed traces of drostanolone and oxazepam and temazepam, which are used to treat anxiety and insomnia, respectively.

Although neither of the latest drugs found in ‘The Spider’s’ system are on the banned list of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Silva didn’t disclose his use of the drugs to the commission beforehand, which then changed them to banned substances.

Along with Diaz, Silva was issued a temporary suspension and will now face the commission at a later date.

Silva’s positive drug test is the latest in a long line of recent failures, which have forced the UFC to introduce a new drug testing policy in which the promotion will now be randomly testing for performance enhancing drugs.

According to UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and UFC president Dana White, if a fighter tests positive for performance enhancing drugs, they are willing to support the rules of WADA and have the fighter suspended for up to two to four years.

“You may not be training at all, but someone may show up to take a random sample,” Fertitta explained during a press conference addressing the issue.

FO SCORE: Check out the feelings of Fighters Only editor Nick Peet regarding MMA’s PED situation on page 34.

BROOKS CONFIDENT WITH FIRST DEFENCE

Bellator lightweight champion Will Brooks has dubbed his first official world title defence against Dave Jansen destined for the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California on April 10th as “easy work”.

The main event will headline Bellator 136 live on Spike, with the tasty middleweight dust-up between finishers Rafael Carvalho and Joe Schilling as the chief support.

After picking up the season nine lightweight tournament title, Brooks edged a split decision against Michael Chandler at Bellator 120 to claim the interim 155lb title. Then he won the title outright in a rematch with Chandler at Bellator 131 in November, scoring a fourth-round TKO and extending his current win streak to six.

Jansen, meanwhile, is on his own seven-fight tear, including winning the season seven lightweight tournament. In October he returned from a lengthy injury layoff to outscore Rick Hawn and cement his shot at the belt.

FO SCORE: Brooks vs. Jansen heralds another new dawn for Bellator MMA, which needs more recognizable homegrown names to fulfil CEO Scott Coker’s global expansion aspirations.

+30 mins

UFC 183 was shown on 30-minute tape delay in Brazil as local broadcaster Globo decided it wasn’t a big enough attraction to be one of their four permitted live UFC events this year.

600

For the latest season of TUF: Brazil, 600 fighters from the lightweight and bantamweight divisions attended the tryouts in an attempt to compete on the show.

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