Anderson Silva responds to the asterisk
Anderson Silva: “Changing people’s opinions, I can’t change that. I have my truth, and that’s what matters to me, to my family, and to everyone around me.”
Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter in UFC history. However, in 2015 he was suspended for a year following an anti-doping test failure that he uncompellingly attributed to a bootleg erectile dysfunction drug he took in Thailand. In 2017, Silva had an anti-doping test flagged again. ‘The Spider’ was removed from a fight vs. Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 122, on November 25, 2017. Last week USADA has announced that Silva has accepted a one-year sanction for the second anti-doping violation, after it was determined that the positive test was due to a contaminated supplement.
Silva, now 43, spoke with MMA Fighting‘s Guilherme Cruz for his first interview since the announcement.
“The most important thing was establishing the truth,” said Silva. “The doubt about what really happened was bothering me the most. Some people kept asking me to talk, but I didn’t say absolutely nothing because I wanted the truth to come out. I never needed any type of illegal substance to fight, I’m against that, and thank God the truth was established.
Some fans and some fighters, including champ champ Daniel Cormier have said that there is an asterisk by the names of Silva and former light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, that the pair are disqualified from G.O.A.T. contention.
“I can’t change people’s opinions,” said Silva. “I can go after the truth, like I did, and prove the truth. That’s what I’ve done. Changing people’s opinions, I can’t change that. I have my truth, and that’s what matters to me, to my family, and to everyone around me.”
“I can’t say what should or shouldn’t be done. I have my fans in the sport. To me, B.J. [Penn] will continue being the best of all time. He’s someone I admire a lot, I have a huge respect for him. And ‘Minotauro’ [Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira], man. These two guys are superheroes of this sport. I can’t talk about me, it’s hard to talk about yourself. I have my history, my legacy, and will continue doing my job, and who knows, one day, when I stop fighting, I can give you a better answer.”