Attorney: NAC can’t stop Wanderlei Silva fighting, one way or another

In May UFC middleweight Wanderlei Silva literally ran from a Performance Enhancing Drug test administered by the Nevada Athletic Commission. The SAC has no alternative but – at the least – to regard refusal as a failed test, which in his case would mean a suspension of at least nine months.

Silva had been preparing for a fight with Chael Sonnen at UFC 175. During a formal hearing, Silva said he had been using a banned diuretic, to help with a wrist injury. In a previous statement released via video, he had cited a language barrier as the cause of his dashing out a side door.

Last month the Nevada attorney general’s office filed a formal complaint against Wand, asking the commission to hold Silva responsible for evading a random drug test and his admitted use of a prohibited drug.

Later this month Silva will appear before the NAC. However, his attorney Ross Goodman appeared recently on The MMA Hour, and said the commission has no authority to punish Silva. Goodman argues that the NAC’s statute is unequivocal – only fighters who are licensed before them can be tested. And although the fight was being advertised, no bout agreement had been signed, and Wand had not applied for a license to fight.

“We’re looking forward to having that hearing, and looking forward to making those arguments in a public form,” said Goodman, as transcribed by Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting. “And hopefully, we can prevail to common sense with respect to the commissioners. It can’t be more black and white. Everybody understands that you have to consent, you have to be a licensee before anybody can take any sort of action against you.

“I think everybody understands the fact that you can’t discipline somebody who is not licensed before you. It’s just as plain as that. The actual complaint is that Wanderlei violated their drug policy, and if you look at the statute, if you look at the section that they’re trying to discipline Wanderlei under, it clearly states that you have to be a licensee.”

“It expressly says you have to be a licensee. This is plain as simple as that. (The commission) takes one section out of context where it says ‘a person.’ Before I even explain that, if they validate what he’s saying, the commission would have the authority to discipline anybody that’s a person. That is absurd. That’s unreasonable.

“If you look at the statute that they took it from, the statute is a licensee statute. You have to read everything in context. There’s no statute which talks about that they can discipline somebody because they are person.

“Unlike Chael or other people, (Silva) had not signed a bout agreement, he wasn’t under contract, and he wasn’t a licensee. You can’t go have somebody submit to a test because they’re potentially going to a fight on a feature card.”

“It doesn’t make it any better, but he was taking (a banned drug) out of competition, not licensed, trying to reduce inflammation. If you look at WADA’s prohibited list, it talks about prohibited substances out of competition and in competition. But even somebody like WADA requires those people to be licensed, or a member of the organization. So the same rule would apply here. Wanderlei should have been a licensee before the commission to try to submit him for a test.”

“They published on their website directly to licensees. It doesn’t say non-licensees. So, if you’re going to randomly test somebody, that presumes that that person is licensed before the commission. You can show up at anytime you want. But you can’t show up, and you don’t have the authority, which is really what the issue is… (Wanderlei) was shocked, he was caught off guard with somebody showing up even thought he didn’t sign a bout agreement with the UFC yet at that point, and he wasn’t a licensee.

“So, instead of trying to accuse Wanderlei, I think the issue should be how come the commission is pursuing something which is… clearly wrong. Taking action against someone who isn’t licensed before them. What they should do is take this as a learning lesson and go ahead and make feature agreements, or amendment rules, to try prevent that from happening.”

If the NAC is not swayed by Goodman’s argument, the attorney plans to appeal to a judge for a reversal, a process he estimated could take two or three months. Goodman also believes that Silva can fight in another jurisdiction, a process known as commission shopping.

“He’s never been denied a license,” explained Goodman. “So if he fights in any other jurisdiction and he submits a license, it’s not like that commission is going to deny it because he hasn’t been denied before. What they’re probably going to do is having him take a test, and if he tests negative, then it should be no obstacle preventing that commission from giving him a license.