Source: MMAJUNKIE
The Nevada State Athletic Commission today voted to suspend Wanderlei Silva for three years following a re-hearing on a lifetime ban issued 17 months ago.
The NSAC banned Silva and fined him $70,000 for evading a drug test in connection with a proposed fight against Chael Sonnen at UFC 175.
Silva’s suspension is retroactive to the date of his evasion, May 24, 2014, meaning he is eligible to apply for a license on May 25, 2017. He is also required to provide a clean drug test upon applying for a new license.
The NSAC decided against a monetary penalty toward Silva since his proposed bout with Sonnen didn’t take place and he did not receive a purse.
The decision comes nine months after a judge called the NSAC’s lifetime ban arbitrary and capricious, and overturned it, sending the case back to the commission for a re-hearing. The second hearing was delayed on multiple occasions.
Silva was not present at the hearing today in Las Vegas and was represented by his longtime attorney, Ross Goodman, who attempted to reassert his argument that the commission overstepped its bounds by punishing Silva, who was unlicensed at the time of his evaded test. Commission chair Anthony Marnell shot down Goodman’s attempt, arguing it was “irrelevant” to the re-hearing.
The NSAC’s attorney, Caroline Bateman, recommended a suspension in the range of 32 to 48 months based on decisions from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and World Anti-Doping Agency. Former NSAC chairman and commissioner Francisco Aguilar recommended the 36-month punishment after an initial proposal of four years by commissioner Pat Lundvall, who called Silva’s behavior “some of the most egregious actions we’ve seen from an athletes.”
The NSAC’s decision is likely to spur an appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court from Goodman, who in a previous interview said he needed the commission to re-hear Silva as a precursor to additional legal action.
Silva (35-12-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC), 39, retired after his lifetime ban, but this past month was released from his UFC contract after he apologized for accusing the promotion of fight-fixing. Silva is scheduled to appear tonight at the Bellator MMA Fan Fest at Dave & Busters in Houston, TX which is being held the day before Bellator 149, that will air live on Spike TV – Friday, 9/8c.
On Monday, Silva made a mock poster of him opposite Fedor Emelianenko in the upstart Japanese promotion Rizin FF, suggesting his desire to fight the former PRIDE heavyweight champion.
