Coach: Silva wouldn’t use PEDs in ‘a dirty way’
Luiz Dorea: “We are all really sad. He’s the biggest MMA athlete of all times. He’s a correct man, would never do anything to have an advantage.”
Luiz Carlos Dorea, long time boxing coach to former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva, recently spoke with Brazil’s Globo Esporte, and said that his fighter would never take anything to have an unfair advantage over opponent Nick Diaz. Silva is of course tested positive for four banned substances, on two different PED tests, leading up to UFC
“I’m really sad because I know Anderson for years and I know he’s a very respected and straightforward man,” said Dorea as translated by Guilherme Cruz for MMAfighting. “Personally, I don’t know what happened. I know Anderson was always a clean guy, very clear. Anderson works hard, he came from humble origins. I don’t know what happened. But I tell you that Anderson would never take that in a dirty way. He would never use anything.”
“We are all really sad. He’s the biggest MMA athlete of all times. He’s a correct man, would never do anything to have an advantage. He’s pure talent, he doesn’t need that. I know he was taking some medication, corticoid. I don’t know which substance.
“I don’t believe he was taking medication to have an advantage. Maybe there was a problem with that, if that existed, some corticoid, something that contained a prohibited substance. That’s what I believe.
“That’s not who he is. He’s an athlete that came from humble origins, who loves to train, a really disciplined athlete inside and outside the Octagon. He has a whole team behind him. He would never do anything to damage himself, to destroy everything he built for many years.”
Silva will reportedly seek leniency at a hearing before the Nevada State Athletic Commission, saying he took the PEDs to aid recovery from the broken leg, and not for the purposes of performance enhancement. Further, he will reportedly say that the oxazepam and temazepam were prescribed to deal with the back spasm that briefly hospitalized him. He will reportedly seek a suspension of six or nine months, rather than the 12 months that he expects.
Given the new climate around PEDs, getting only 12 months will be a victory.