The Nevada State Athletic Commission have come down on Wanderlei Silva like a ton of bricks over an incident earlier in the year in which he fled a random drugs test in the state ahead of his UFC 175 bout with Chael Sonnen.
Yesterday the commission handed Silva lifetime ban from fighting in Nevada in addition to a $70,000 fine (35% of the fight purse he would have received at the event if the fight had gone ahead).
Silva had been caught off-guard when an official showed up at his gym back in May looking to administer a surprise drugs test, and after making excuses why he couldn’t take the test, ‘The Axe-Murderer’ was reported to have sneaked out the back door and left.
Silva later confessed that he had purposefully avoided the test, claiming that he diuretics in his system to help with a wrist injury.
In the months since Silva had appeared bullish about his chances of avoiding being punished by NSAC, but ahead of his hearing just a few days ago Silva suddenly announced his retirement from the sport, claiming that he was doing so due to being angered by the way he and other fighters were being treated by the UFC.
Silva’s lawyer, Dr Ross Goodman, has indicated that he intends to appeal the commission’s decision.
Meanwhile, Silva has lashed out at the verdict in a post on his Twitter account.
“Those who are trying to take me down, come get it,” Silva wrote. “War is just beginning, sons of b*****s. They will see that we’re the ones who run this s**t, bunch of playboys.”
