Wanderlei Silva seeks court review of lifetime ban

Wanderlei Silva has been suspended by the Nevada Athletic Commission for a term that has widely been interpreted as permanent, following his failure to take a PED test. His attorney, Ross Goodman, has filed a petition in Nevada district court asking a judge to overturn the ruling.

It’s an appeal to a judge to hear this legal issue that the NSAC gave short shrift to, Goodman told Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. They didn’t even address it. They just said, ‘Motion denied.’ This whole thing has just been one big kangaroo court, and now we’re about to get a real hearing. That (NSAC) decision was predetermined.

They’re saying Wanderlei was running from the tester, but they’re running. They took the full 60 days to file the (official ruling against Silva), which just delays it. Now that I’ve got it, I took a day to file my petition.

Goodman said he anticipates a court date early in the new year, at which point he will file a brief arguing that the NAC lacked authority to sanction Silva, as the fighter was unlicensed at the time he ran from the test. The highly-respected Goodman has represented a number of fighters including Nick Diaz and Chael Sonnen, and owned the WFA before selling it to the UFC. The sale brought among others Rich Franklin, Quinton Jackson, Lyoto Machida, and Urijah Faber to the league.

Although Silva retired shortly before the NAC announced his suspension, there are rumors he could resurrect his feud with Sakuraba in pro wrestling, or fight in Brazil for XFC.