UFC 183 Headliners Nick Diaz and Anderson Silva Fail Drug Tests

In semi-shocking news, it has been announced that UFC 183 headliners Nick Diaz and Anderson Silva each failed a drug test. Now, the match was seen as a return to dominant form for Silva after breaking his leg against Chris Weidman in 2013: he unanimously defeated Diaz to secure his 34th victory.

Now, the shocking revelation about Silva was announced: he failed a drug test for the first time in his storied career. The positive results were from a random out-of-competition test on Jan. 9, which according to ESPN tested positive for steroid drostanolone and androstane. The reason the fight was not canceled is because the NSAC did not get the results until Tuesday morning and only notified the UFC then.

As a result, the fighting organization released a statement regarding this latest discovery, “UFC’s understanding is that further testing will be conducted by the commission to confirm these preliminary results. Anderson Silva has been an amazing champion and a true ambassador of the sport of mixed martial arts and the UFC, in Brazil as well as around the world. UFC is disappointed to learn of these initial results.”

The 39-year-old was counted out after his horrific leg injury against Chris Weidman: that is why his return against Diaz was such a moneymaker for the UFC. There is no word how bad this positive test will hurt his legacy because he is still arguably one of the most dominant ever in the sport: remaining undefeated from 2006-2012 with ten consecutive title defenses.

Now of course, Silva has completely denied the usage: his doctor has released a statement, “Anderson told me he’s disappointed, upset because he didn’t use steroids. He will ask for the confirmation test because he believes the only explanation is a contamination or a mistake from the lab. He told me: ‘I have an impeccable career history and I wouldn’t want to tarnish my image.’”

On the less surprising side of the issue, Nick Diaz has failed his post-fight drug test: it appears traces of marijuana was in his system. According to ESPN, “exact results were unavailable, but confirmed Diaz’s results were above the allowable limit of 150 ng/ML.” This would be the third time the 31-year-old fighter has tested positive for marijuana, with the first happening in 2007 and the most recent in 2012 — with the latter resulting in a one year suspension from the NSAC.