The Nevada State Athletic Commission has suspended and fined Thiago Silva for providing a fake urine sample after his UFC 125 bout against Brandon Vera. That fight, which Silva originally won, has been ruled a no-contest.

Vera, who had been cut by the promotion after the loss got a second lease on his UFC career after the NSAC raised concerns about the fight.

The commission fined Silva $33,750 (25% of his $55,000 purse and 20% of his $55,000 win bonus) and set the suspension to begin retroactively on January 1, 2011. Silva will be able to re-apply for a license on January 2, 2012.

Heavy.com has more:

Silva told the commission that he secured the synthetic urine from ClearTest.com. He poured the urine into his testing vial while the NSAC inspector stood behind him. Silva said that three herniated discs in his back caused him a great deal of pain during training camp. The commission admitted that their inspectors were at fault for not catching the cheating process.

After the commission ruled against him, Silva posted a statement on the UG in which he 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 Athletic Commission. I also made the decision to use a product to hide the presence of these substances in a urine test.

Dr. Johnny Benjamin commented on Silva's statement:

FYI: There is no medically accepted, evidence-based literature supporting the injection of anabolic steroids or HGH into the epidural space (spinal canal). In the U.S., to do so clearly would be considered rampant malpractice.

...

I pray that Silva's official statement is his well-worded (and in his mind, excusable) explanation for just regular, garden-variety cheating (i.e. "I got caught attempting to mask my injection of anabolic steroids and/or HGH into my butt trying to help heal or recover from a training injury"). If, in fact, my suspicions/concerns are warranted, state athletic commissions, WADA, USADA, the UFC and especially fighters need to be very, very alarmed. A disaster is looming.

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