Shortly after former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva returned to the octagon last week to defeat Nick Diaz, ESPN confirmed Wednesday that both fighters have failed drug tests.
Arguably one of the best fighters of this generation Silva, 39, has tested positive to for anabolic steroids, according to ESPN. The news follows his victory over Diaz after a 13-month layoff from UFC due to injury. Silva was tested on Jan. 9. of this year, with confirmation of the positive results this morning.
Diaz, a great fighter in his own right, now faces his third drug offense following the news. The fight between Silva and Diaz was not cancelled because of the latency of the confirmed drug test results.
The question for Silva, is how long has he been using steroids and how much this will taint his illustrious fighting career. Silva is 34-6 overall in his mixed martial arts career, with 20 victories by knockout. The fighter was long speculated to retire, but confirmed that he would return to UFC last summer after sustaining a broken fibula and tibia. A successful intramedullary rod implant and over a full year off from fighting, Silva defeated Diaz on Jan. 31.
Diaz, a long proponent of marijuana use, will at the very least be temporarily suspended along with Silva at the next Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) disciplinary hearing on Feb. 17.
The news couldn’t come at a worse time for the UFC. Another one of the sports biggest stars, Jon Jones, tested positive for cocaine in early December. Like Silva and Diaz, Jones’ test results came just days after a heavily touted fight.