A terrible news broke on Friday that former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva flagged by USADA due to out-of-competition drug test failure and is out of his UFC Fight Night 122 main event against Kelvin Gastelum later this month.
The drug test stemmed from a sample collected on Oct. 26.
Silva, has been provisionally suspended and is now facing a full suspension from USADA and pending the adjudication for further process.
Back in 2015, Silva 42, also tested positive for steroids a banned substance androstane, temazepam, and oxazepam in an in-competition test in for his fight against Nick Diaz at UFC 183. Due to of that Silva was suspended for one year by the Nevada Athletic Commission for an anti-doping violation.
UFC released the following statement regarding Silva’s test failure on Friday:
The UFC organization was notified today that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has informed Anderson Silva of a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from an out-of-competition sample collected on October 26, 2017. As a result, Silva has been provisionally suspended by USADA. Due to the proximity of Silva’s upcoming scheduled bout at UFC Fight Night, Shanghai, China on November 25, 2017, against Kelvin Gastelum, Silva has been removed from the card and UFC is currently seeking a replacement.
USADA, the independent administrator of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, will handle the results management and appropriate adjudication of this case involving Silva. Under the UFC Anti-Doping Policy, there is a full and fair legal process that is afforded to all athletes before any sanctions are imposed. Additional information will be provided at the appropriate time as the process moves forward.
Kelvin Gastelum and Colby Covington React to Anderson Silva’s USADA drug test failure.
Surprise, surprise! Another #FilthyAnimal bites the dust. https://t.co/VlCLumGSe5
— Colby Covington (@ColbyCovMMA) November 10, 2017
Breath……..inhale ……….exhale 😭 https://t.co/BTemZm5xeT
— #OnAmission4Gold (@KelvinGastelum) November 10, 2017