2. The Anderson Silva-Nick Diaz Debacle
When the UFC announced in the summer of 2014 that Anderson Silva-Nick Diaz was actually happening, fight fans had to pinch themselves to make sure it was real. Not long after the highly-anticipated UFC 183 super fight concluded, fans were pinching themselves again, this time due to a different type of disbelief.
The bout itself, while not a classic, was entertaining enough. After shattering his leg against Chris Weidman one year prior, Silva was still clearly a diminished version of the fighter who was once the sport’s undisputed pound-for-pound king, but he was effective in spurts, landing the occasional combination while circling and countering. Diaz, meanwhile, was typical Diaz, taunting, posing and flexing, but he could not muster enough output to truly threaten “The Spider.” In the end, the ex-middleweight king emerged with a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph.
Then all hell broke loose.
A few days after the event, it was revealed that Silva tested positive for two anabolic steroids during an out-of-competition test ahead of UFC 183. However, the fight was allowed to take place because the Nevada Athletic Commission claimed it did not receive the results until three days later.
On a less surprising note, Diaz tested positive for marijuana during a post-fight drug test -- his third positive result in Nevada. As it turned out, it was not a black-and-white case.
Silva denied taking performance-enhancing drugs in an initial statement, but it was later revealed that he also failed an additional drug test for anxiety and anti-insomnia medication, as well as steroids yet again.
After some delay, Silva finally appeared before the NAC in August. The Brazilian’s defense was one of the more memorable in recent memory, as he blamed the failed test on a tainted sexual-enhancement drug. The testimony fell on deaf ears, and Silva was suspended for one year and fined $380,000. Perhaps even worse, Silva’s legacy will forever include mention of the liquid in that mysterious blue vial.
“I feel there’s some intention here to use the product to come back from a devastating injury,” NAC commissioner Anthony Marnell said during the hearing. “There’s definitely knowledge of what’s going on here, and we’re just playing games; and that’s my frustration at all this soft testimony.”
While Silva received a measure of leniency, the commission came down much more harshly on Diaz approximately one month later. The controversial Stockton, California, native was suspended five years and fined $165,000 for his failed post-fight drug test, despite major discrepancies discovered in the three samples submitted by Diaz in a five-hour span at UFC 183. Even though two of the results -- taken by the World Anti-Doping Association-accredited Sports Medicine and Research Testing Laboratory -- contained marijuana metabolite levels below the minimum threshold in Nevada, the NAC based its punishment in part on Diaz’s two previous failed tests, as well as his repeated failures to properly fill out a pre-fight medical questionnaires.
Everyone from Ronda Rousey to UFC President Dana White admitted the verdict was a little over the top, and a White House petition filed online to lift the suspension garnered more than 100,000 signatures. So far, Diaz’s punishment remains intact, but the fighter and the NAC are reportedly in talks to reduce the fine and suspension.
If all goes well, perhaps both Silva and Diaz will be back in the Octagon sometime in 2016.
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