LAS VEGAS -- Brazilian light-heavyweight Thiago Silva has been banned for a year and fined US$33,750 after admitting to doping and tampering with his urine at a UFC 125 drug test. The Nevada State Athletic Commission handed down the ruling after a hearing Thursday. Silva's win over Brandon (The Truth) Vera on Jan. 1 was turned into a no contest. He cannot reapply for his license to fight until Jan. 2, 2012. The 28-year-old mixed martial arts fighter from Sao Paolo came clean last week after the Nevada commission alleged he submitted a specimen that was "inconsistent with human urine" before the bout. Silva subsequently issued a statement acknowledging he had taken a prohibited substance and then tried to conceal it by using a "urine adulterant." "I did so in an attempt to alter the results of the test and knowingly broke the rules of the Nevada Athletic Commission," he said. "This was a terrible decision on my part for which I will be punished. I am prepared to accept this punishment, learn from it and move on. "I apologize to the commission, the UFC, Brandon Vera and the MMA fans." Vera, after suffering his third straight defeat, was cut by the UFC in the wake of the Silva loss. But he has since been reinstated. Silva (14-2 with one no contest) is a highly regarded 205-pounder whose lone losses have been to Rashad Evans and Lyota Machida, both former UFC light-heavyweight champions. In his statement, the six-foot-one Silva said the chain of events leading to his decision to cheat started with a severe back injury shortly before the Evans fight in the main event of UFC 108 in January 2010. In order to fight, he took injections containing a prohibited substance and then tried to mask the presence of these substances in his urine. http://tsn.ca/mma/story/?id=361287
Well, at least he apologized to Brandon Vera. That's cool. He cheated and then badly broke Brandon Vera's nose to the point it was horribly contorted. But hey, he apologized. Personally a lifetime ban wouldn't be enough for me...
Vera has been getting his face smashed good in his losses. Jones broke his face, Thiago Silva destroyed his nose.
I have never really paid attention to your stance on PED's in MMA, Trplsec. Did you feel the same way with Sherk, Sonnen, Tim Silvia, Barnett, etc.?
Rarely even then. "The testing was mixed up" "I didn't knowingly take a steroid" / "i thought they were injecting me with vitamins"
Sorry, bad wording on my part there. What I meant was he only admitted it because he got caught. Had he not been caught he wasn't going to admit shit. I agree that most deny it even after being caught. It's all the same to me though, they all had the intention of not getting caught.
My stance is absolutely the same on anyone that is caught or admits using banned substances to improve their performance, recover from an injury or make weight. I've said on here NUMEROUS times that I don't think Barnett should ever be allowed to fight again. When you look at his record, he's almost never tested clean for a sanctioned MMA fight. Either he fights where they don't test or he ends up popped. I do like to give the benefit of the doubt in terms of speculation. But when a guy fails with reason or admits it like Silva, it should be a lifetime ban. I will admit that the Silva case bothers me more because people want to excuse him to some degree because he 'admitted it'. The other thing that bothers me is Brandon Vera. Here is a guy that was fighting for his life in the UFC and he got manhandled by a cheater. The typical thought, as expressed already in this thread, is that Vera is shit and would have lost anyway. But guess what? If not for the banned injections, Silva wouldn't have been able to train and would have either pulled out of the fight or gone into it much weaker than he did. No matter which case, Silva wouldn't have been able to manhandle Vera physically the way he did. Yeah, it bothers me.
I think the punishment is fair enough. Lifetime ban is a bit punitive, dont u think Trp? Guillard tested positive for coke got suspended and it completely changed him for the better. The only and i mean ONLY instance where a lifetime ban should be considered is in the case of a multiple repeat offender like Barnett.
You would make a far better judge than me. Obviously you are right. A lifetime ban for a first offense is probably too extreme. But tell me something. How many guys would risk using if they knew they could get banned for life? And again, part of the problem with a 'lifetime' ban is that it doesn't mean much. You just fight out of the country or in a different organization.
Yep sad. Next thing you know Vera will be fighting in Russia for a meaningless title against the most harmless fighter he can possibly find... And still likely lose. Oh wait... Vera still needs to go to Australia to do the same thing, and get brutally knocked out in the process.
Right on, brother, it bothers me as well. Not sure if I would lay down a lifetime ban for a first offender, but I would definitely agree with the lifetime ban on a repeat offender. The only way this gets fixed is if state commissions adopt more stringent testing along the same lines as cycling. Otherwise, the testing process itself is flawed and innacurate. And honestly, I don't think the state commissions want to apply those tests, as well as the organizations don't want the tests applied.
