Thiago Silva Admits To Tampering With His UFC 125 Drug Screen

Added on Mar 30, 2011 by John Petit in

UFC & MMA

In the week before UFC 126 the NSAC made a statement saying that there was something wrong with the “A-sample” from light heavyweight Thiago Silva. He had taken the test prior to his fight with Brandon Vera, and he went on to win that fight. When Silva first heard of the “problems” with his initial screening, he assured everyone it was a mistake and he said “I am not a cheater.”

Cut to March 29, 2011 when the Nevada State Athletic Commission announced that the problem with Thiago Silva’s urine sample was that it wasn’t urine at all. In fact, the NSAC said that his test was “adulterated and/or substituted specimen for testing.”

Now that Thiago has absolutely no choice but to admit to cheating, and tampering with his sample, he is now asking for forgiveness. Some people are running around saying how honorable it is that he is coming clean, and “owning his decision, and his actions.” This is ridiculous to me, as the time to own up to his decisions was when the NSAC announced that there were issues with the sample.

In a statement sent out earlier today, Thiago said “We make decisions every day of our lives. Some are good, and some are bad. When you make a bad decision, you can either make the situation worse by trying to cover it up or lie about it, or just stick your head in the sand and refuse to acknowledge it even happened. Or you can own up to it with an honest explanation, accept the consequences of your actions, apologize to the people affected by it, learn from it and move on. I’m choosing the second option.”

When questions started popping up about the sample of Silva, Thiago was intent on lying until the second sample come back, and now he is acting pious for owning up to it? He has no choice but to own up to it, and accept his punishment. He continued “I used a urine adulterant when giving a sample following my fight with Brandon Vera. I did so in an attempt to alter the results of the test and knowingly broke the rules of the Nevada (State) Athletic Commission. This was a terrible decision on my part for which I will be punished. I am prepared to accept this punishment, learn from it and move on. I apologize to the commission, the UFC, Brandon Vera and the MMA fans.”

Basically, Thiago had a back injury going into the Rashad Evans fight, and in training for his fight with Brandon Vera he hurt his back again. Thiago said “I re injured my back 45 days before the fight with Brandon Vera. After not fighting for a year, I made the decision to not pull out of the fight. I also decided that the only way I could continue with the fight was to take injections in my back and spine that contained substances prohibited by the Nevada (State) Athletic Commission. I also made the decision to use a product to hide the presence of these substances in a urine test.”

Silva will have to face the NSAC on April 7 to determine his penalty. Most likely the bout will be turned into a No-Contest, he will be given a small fine, and he will be suspended for a year. Thiago concluded the statement by saying “These decisions were mine and mine alone. I did not share this information with anyone prior to the fight for fear that I would not be allowed to fight. I obviously made a terrible decision. I have since learned that it may have even been possible to fight had I been open and honest and disclosed the injury and treatment prior to the fight. I also realize that not being allowed to fight as a result of the treatment would have been a better result than the mess into which I have now gotten myself. Again, I take full responsibility for making the decision to break the rules and try to cheat the system. I will accept the punishment I receive and will learn from this. I plan to come back as a better person and professional as a result.”