Former UFC mixed martial arts middleweight champion Anderson Silva and one-time welterweight contender Nick Diaz will finally have their hearing before the Nevada State Athletic Commission after more than half a year of waiting.
Bob Bennett, the Executive Director of the NSAC, has recently confirmed that Silva and Diaz will have their hearings on August 13th which will be held during the commission’s meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Silva, who had a record of 34-6 MMA and 17-2 UFC, had failed both the pre- and post-fight drug tests for multiple banned substances. Diaz, on the other hand, had failed his post-fight drug test for marijuana. Diaz lost to Silva last January in the UFC 183 event held at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Both of the fighters, who were temporarily suspended in February, could face additional consequences such as longer formal suspensions, attorney’s fees and fines. For Silva, his win could be nullified.
The probable reason why it took so long for the hearing to happen is because of the extensions requested by the representatives of the fighters. However, there is no clear explanation why it took seven months for both of the fighters’ cases to be heard. The Executive Director refused to release any statements regarding this matter.
Bennett simply said, ““Not at this point and time. It will be discussed on the 13th.”
Silva, who failed the pre- and post- drug tests, surprised the whole MMA community when the news broke out. The former champion immediately denied he is taking any banned substances. However, two months after the tests came out positive, Silva and his team requested for a bit more time for the preparation of their defense because they had the nutritional supplements analyzed.
Due to this incident, there are some drug reports that came from NSAC’s drug testing procedures appeared to be questionable. Last May, there was a request for the UFC 183 drug test results to be out in the public. The results revealed that Diaz did not fail the two drug tests done by the WADA-accredited Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory. However, he failed the drug test conducted by Quest Diagnostics. Just this past month, Larry Pepe, an MMA veteran reporter, said via Twitter that there were also inconsistent lab results with Silva’s case. The NSAC refused to release statements about this matter.
Diaz’s team and the NSAC tried to make a settlement regarding the conflicting test results, but unfortunately, both parties weren’t able to reach an agreement. Someone from Silva’s camp came out and released some statements about the pending investigation. Although he did not want to reveal his identity because he was not allowed to speak about the issue publicly, this person claimed that the delays with process came from the commission’s side, and not from Silva’s team.
Chris Eccles, the Nevada Deputy Attorney General, will be the one to present the complaints against Silva and Diaz during the hearings. Silva and Diaz will then be given the opportunity to explain their side of the story. Based on the NSAC policies, the commission releases its official results following a certain standard “in which the evidence, when considered and compared with that opposed to it, has more convincing force and produces in the minds of the members of the commission a belief that what is sought to be proved is more likely true than not true.”