Anderson ‘Spider’ Silva fails drug test and is removed from Shanghai Fight Night card
The organisation’s first event on the mainland suffers from the withdrawal of the hugely popular fighter whose future is in jeopardy after his second positive test
The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s push into mainland China has been dealt a body blow overnight with the news that headliner and all-around mixed martial arts legend Anderson Silva has failed another drugs test.
In a brief statement posted on its website, the UFC said that Silva – arguably the greatest fighter the sport has seen – had failed an out-of-competition drug test given on October 26.
There was no information about what the substance was that Silva tested positive for, and no official ban would be implemented unless the fighter’s B sample also tested positive.
But if matters do head that way then it would almost certainly spell the end of the Brazilian’s career as he has previously tested positive anabolic steroids and was banned for a year by the Nevada Athletic Commission after his bout with Nick Diaz back at UFC 183 in 2015.
The fighter blamed that failed test on the fact he’d used pills picked up by a friend in Thailand to improve his sexual performance.