Middleweight Bruno Silva has been suspended from active competition, per an announcement from Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), the anti-doping partner of the UFC.
Silva, who last fought at UFC Fight Night Atlantic City in a loss to former UFC middleweight champion Chris Weidman, has accepted a six-month ban from competition. Though Weidman got the win in New Jersey that night, he was severely unamused by Silva’s failure.
And while no explanation has been given by Silva for the test failure, Weidman says he was told it could have been “microdosing anabolics.”
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Bruno Silva Suspended For Violating UFC Anti-Doping Policy, Chris Weidman Makes Accusation
Weidman’s win in Atlantic City brought plenty of controversy in the fight’s finishing sequence. The American, it originally seemed, was able to force Silva to collapse to the mat and overwhelm him with ground-and-pound. It would have been Weidman’s first finish since his submission of Kelvin Gastelum in 2017.
The state’s athletic commission, however, overturned the result to a unanimous technical decision upon seeing that Silva was poked in both eyes during the sequence.
Weidman’s win over Silva was his first victory since defeating Omari Akhmedov in August 2020, as well as his first victory in his second fight since coming back from his broken leg.
Silva’s suspension is retroactive to April 11, meaning he can return to competition beginning October 11.
