Wanderlei Silva Rips NSAC, Supports Jon Jones [VIDEO]
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Pride Fighting veteran Wanderlei Silva blasted the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) through his latest Youtube post on the messy handling of Jon Jones case. The "Axe Murderer" sent a strongly worded message that was critical of the drug testing procedures and the clear lack of rules that govern said schemes.
"You are lost, you don't know what you are doing," Silva said in his native tongue that was reported by MMA Junkie. "Maybe a fighter tests positive and still fights because it's in the commission's interest. But what goes? The law or their interests? This sport has to be regulated. The way it's going can't continue. This commission is a mess. They don't know what they are [doing]."
Nevertheless, the retired Brazilian mixed martial artist expressed his support for disgraced light heavyweight champion Jones Jones after testing positive for metabolites that are inherent in prohibited drug cocaine. Silva expressed his confidence in the champion to come out of the challenge and use his experience as a means to warn his followers of not taking the same path.
Still, the focus of the 38-year-old retired fighter's tirade circled the messy handling of NSAC and its confusion of which instances to regulate. The NSAC was only tasked with conducting tests for out-of-competition prohibited drugs and accidentally tested him for the recreational drug. The mix-up and the development led to the UFC holding in abeyance its decision to take action on the drug use and waited until the Jan.3 bout with Daniel Cormier to materialize. UFC President Dana White has since expressed his support for Jones' rehabilitation efforts and hinted at welcoming him back with open arms. According to reports, Jones was not informed of the outcome of the positive testing until after the bout with Cormier was finished.
Silva gave his former promotional outfit a pass, saying that the UFC did the right thing by protecting its investment. However, his admonishing tone for the NSAC has not wavered. Expectedly, Silva comes off as some bitter critic as he was also subject to harsh decisions by the Commission in 2014. He was levied a lifetime ban and was ordered to settle a fine of $ 70,000 for fleeing a random drug-testing prior to his match against Chael Sonnen. Since then the Brazilian legend has used the incident as the main reason for his retirement, blaming the institution for taking out his desire to fight.
Watch the video of Silva's tirades below:
(Youtube/Wandfightteam)
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