

BERLIN – Wanderlei Silva is “in a very bad position” with the UFC and is “done” when it comes to his fighting opportunity at UFC 175.

As to what happens with his career, UFC President Dana White today said, “I don’t know – we’ll see what happens. He’s going to have a hard time getting licensed again.”

White commented publicly for the first time on the events that led to Silva’s departure from the July 5 pay-per-view event at a media scrum in support of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 41.

Chael Sonnen, who announced Silva’s scratch on “UFC Tonight,” is now set to fight former champ Vitor Belfort, who could earn a title shot against UFC 175’s headliner – if he can get a license from the overseeing Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Silva was set to fight Chael Sonnen at the event after a coaching stint opposite the three-time title contender on “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3.” But following a press conference this past week in Las Vegas, White said his booking went south when the NSAC surprised the fighter at his nearby gym with a drug test.

White confirmed a report from Sonnen that the former PRIDE champion “ran” out of the gym and drove away in his car. He added Silva “then went MIA for a few days.”

Expecting repercussions from the NSAC, the promotion chose to remove Silva from UFC 175.

“It did not put him in a good place with the commission, so we knew he wasn’t going to get licensed,” White said. “So we contacted Chael and Vitor. Of course, Chael said yes immediately to the fight, and now it’s all riding on whether Vitor can get licensed by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.”

In a video posted today, Silva said the testing incident was a “misunderstanding” and said he was still game to fight in the UFC. When White spoke to reporters, the video had yet to be posted, but his only reaction was, “Cool.”

Since the incident, White said he had only communicated with Silva via text, and there was “not much that made sense.”

“He can shoot all the videos he wants,” added the UFC president. “He’s in trouble.”

Belfort, 37, is no stranger to troubles with the commission. In 2006 following PRIDE 32 in Las Vegas, he tested positive for a steroid (he first claimed a tainted supplement caused the failure, and then said a doctor’s post-surgery injections were to blame). Then, this past January, he too was removed from a UFC fight card – a title fight at UFC 173 against champ Chris Weidman – after he submitted to a random drug test.

The results of that test were not made public. This past week, White said he wasn’t privy to them. But today, he indicated he was aware of the results and cast doubt on their validity.

“Here’s the reality of that test,” he said. “Doctors disagree with the result of that test. Doctors who matter disagree with the results of that test. And here’s the problem: No one knows what the f–k they’re talking about when it comes to TRT and testing.”

Despite Belfort’s history, White expressed confidence the fighter would be licensed by the commission.

“[Belfort will] obviously have to go before them, and he’s been taking a series of tests leading up to this moment,” he said. “So he’s got a history of taking tests, and they’ll test him, and we’ll see what they do.”

In earlier interviews, White was skeptical of Belfort’s self-testing efforts, telling MMAjunkie, “He’s fooling himself if … he really thinks … he took a couple home tests and he’s ready to roll.”

Now, White appears to have reversed course. The final decision on whether Belfort fights or not, however, rests with the commission. As earlier reported, the UFC will scratch Sonnen vs. Belfort if there are any snags.

For more on UFC 175, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.