Photograph: Felipe Dana/AP
Anderson Silva claims a friend of his from Thailand recommended ingesting clear liquid housed in a blue vial, so for three months the former UFC champion did.
What that concoction was, exactly, Silva did not say, but he stated Tuesday that he took it for sexual enhancement – not a medically prescribed sexual issue – and an ingredient in the blue vial was, indeed, the banned anabolic steroid drostanolone. This is why Silva found himself facing a disciplinary hearing in front of the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Twice last January Silva failed anti-doping tests instituted by Nevada: an out of competition exam on 9 January and a fight-night sample collection on 31 January. The Sports Medicine Research & Testing Laboratory, a Wada accredited facility, indicated that, among other substances, to which Silva also admitted taking, an exogenous steroid was found in his system.
Silva said if he knew then what he knows now he would not have gone to the blue vial multiple times ahead of his five-round decision win over Nick Diaz on 31 January – the 40-year-old Brazilian’s first bout since suffering a devastating leg break 13 months earlier. That did nothing to sway members of the Nevada Athletic Commission, who unanimously voted to turn Silva’s 34th win into his first no contest, enforce a 12-month suspension from the date of the Diaz bout, and fine him $360,000 of the total $800,000 announced purse he earned for showing up and having his hand raised.
If there’s anything to be shocked by it’s that Silva was apparently oblivious that taking an unmarked sexual enhancement stimulant from Thailand might lead to bad results, or that he shouldn’t have notified regulators. But for three months after receiving the blue vial from Marcos Fernades, whom Silva identified as the person who gave it to him, the former No1 pound-for-pound fighter in MMA apparently had no compunction about using the stuff. Silva claimed he partook as desired, including after arriving for his training camp in Los Angeles in early January, then again after traveling to Las Vegas about a week and half before meeting Diaz in the Octagon.
‘The Spider’ said he never thought about the possibility that he might be taking something that was banned, showing a tremendous amount of trust in Fernades, a longtime friend of one of his trainers. Members of the Nevada commission went after Silva for inconsistencies and “soft testimony,” which was confused by inadequate Portuguese to English translation. The fact that two other UFC-affiliated fighters from his camp, Black House MMA, tested positive for drostanolone in the summer of 2014 was not mentioned. Like Kevin Casey and Brian Ortega, Silva did not declare the substance that would trigger a positive test for drostanolone on Nevada medical forms.
Prior to this experience Silva claimed he had always been forthcoming, yet, embarrassed to provide such intimate insight into his personal life, he decided against saying anything. Lack of disclosure has never gone over well with regulators who have repeatedly dealt with fighters that don’t keep commission doctors informed of what they’re using. Testing positive for banned substances only to claim later that supplements were somehow tainted is a well worn cliche. In this way, Silva’s embarrassment is very normal.
Following a career marked with incredible moments – admittedly during an era in mixed martial arts that was, at best, under-regulated when it came to performance enhancing drug use – Silva turned out to be just one of the guys. From giant names who made big money to competitors unworthy of their own Wikipedia page, Silva’s drug failure could very well be an exclamation point for this tainted era.
