Antonio Silva Defies CSAC, Will Fight in Japan

by Kid Nate on Dec 8, 2008 3:47 PM EST in News Comment 35 comments

This has been brewing for a while and now Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva has made his decision:

Antonio Silva has accepted an offer to face Yoshihiro Nakao at World Victory Road’s upcoming Sengoku event on Jan. 4 in Saitama, Japan, confirmed his manager Alex Davis on Sunday.

The American Top Team heavyweight’s decision comes in the wake of a letter received last week from California State Athletic Commission Assistant Executive Director Bill Douglas, who said he will recommend Silva’s license be revoked if he does not adhere to a suspension imposed on him last July.

...

“Antonio has decided to fight, he really has no option,” wrote Davis in an email to Sherdog.com. “He’s innocent, he’s tried to prove it and it fell on unwilling ears, and he has financial commitments that to not meet would have serious consequences for him. In light of these, he has decided to continue his career in Japan until when and if his situation with the CSAC is resolved.”

If the CSAC hadn't been through a massive reorganization, including the ousting of former head Armando Garcia and the suspension of their drug testing program I would be more sympathetic of their hard ass stance here.

Douglas knows that Garcia's administration was running a screwed up drug testing operation or they would not have cancelled any drug tests at the last Strikeforce event.

I am in sympathy with Douglas' desire that their suspensions be respected but at the same time, when everyone agrees that the regime that suspended Silva and refused to modify his suspension at hearing was utterly corrupt and incompetent, I think it behooves them to find a compromise.

Its just not fair to Silva to ask that he sit out a year when everyone agrees that the CSAC was screwing up left and right when they suspended him.

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Good move by Silva. Garcia and Co screwed him over and he can’t just wait around. I’m sure when he comes back to the US the Athletic commission will reconsider and handle his case properly.

by Discman2 on Dec 8, 2008 3:54 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I'll agree if you agree, Kid

It’s just not fair to Silva to ask that he sit out a year when everyone agrees that the CSAC was screwing up left and right when they suspended him.

I will agree to this if you will agree that the CSAC’s punishments mean nothing if they simply allow fighters to go to the other 49 states – and all over the world – if they get caught cheating in California. In order for a state athletic board’s tests to have any weight, they must either a) be Nevada or b) have the commitment of other jurisdictions behind them.

There is a compromise that can be made here – a retest, a commutation of the sentence, something – but both extremes (fuck Antonio Silva, serve the whole thing v fuck the principle of reciprocal punishment for offenses, let him fight wherever whenever) are both wrong.

by subo on Dec 8, 2008 3:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

What was with them chopping suspensions in half, seemingly at random? I would have far fewer doubts about them if they had been consistent in their rulings.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 8, 2008 4:01 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed

Douglas should’ve reached out to Silva and cut a deal instead of making it a confrontation.

by Kid Nate on Dec 8, 2008 4:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I still tend to lean towards Silva’s side in this fiasco.

That said, I had the feeling the CSAC was going to be difficult to deal with if he followed through with fighting in Japan.

Now, I think they will be like little bunnies and Silva will be like a bear with big bear claws, lol. Seriously, I don’t think he will have much trouble fighting in the US because of the CSAC abandoning their previous testing system. Imo, that made it look really bad and showed that they had their doubts about it as well.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 8, 2008 4:00 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

I think Silva’s going to need to file a major lawsuit in the US Court system for that to work.

by Kid Nate on Dec 8, 2008 4:04 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Really? I think that as soon as the year is up and he applies for reinstatement, they would probably negotiate a fine and allow him to fight.

Why do you think he will have to go that far? Not doubting you, seriously want to know if and why you think it will take that much for him to fight here again, especially considering the precedent that Belfort set.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 8, 2008 4:08 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

maybe you’re right, but either way it will have to be dealt with in a formal process.

by Kid Nate on Dec 8, 2008 4:12 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Why are people on sivlas side again?

he took a supplement that pops up as a steroid and failed a test…

what did I miss here?

by dbcb on Dec 8, 2008 4:27 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

He took a supplement that is known to cause false positives. It is not a steroid. Also, he’s not physically able to take the steroid they said he was taking, lest he want to die.

by Discman2 on Dec 8, 2008 4:33 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Additionally, I think there may be a little bit of siding with Silva because it is the train wreck CSAC on the other side.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 8, 2008 5:03 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

agreed. especially after the armando garcia scandal and the way they screwed up sherk’s case. not really a sherk fan, but i think he got the shaft. bigfoot might be guilty, but not without reasonable doubt.

by bdw on Dec 8, 2008 5:23 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

that and they didn’t event do drug testing for the last strikeforce event, which proves to me, that their procedures and policies on drug testing were a mess.

by bdw on Dec 8, 2008 5:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

This is exactly the viewpoint, that I think, will make it easy for Silva to come back to the US at some point.

There is just an air of incompetence surrounding the previous regime of the CSAC.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 8, 2008 5:29 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

exactly!

That was the point when I gave up on the CSAC. They basically admitted that their procedures were so FUBAR’d that it was better to go an entire event without testing than use the old procedures. FAIL.

by Kid Nate on Dec 8, 2008 5:51 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

I am trying to figure this all out as I don’t understand mma testing procedures (it doesn’t seem to be universal and defined like NFL, NBA, ect)

What was the supplement? anyone remember off hand?

by dbcb on Dec 8, 2008 5:05 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

fightlinker covered the whole thing pretty comprehensively http://www.fightlinker.com/antonio-silva-done-fucked-up.mma

by Kid Nate on Dec 8, 2008 5:52 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

They also abandoned all precedent of shortening the suspension to 6 months in cases where there was “question” as to the legitimacy of the test and/or tainted supplement (see: Baroni, Phil and Sherk, Sean).

by Frank_Castle on Dec 8, 2008 5:06 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Also do not forget...

Bill Douglass was a member of that “regime that suspended Silva and refused to modify his suspension at hearing was utterly corrupt and incompetent.” While he is trying to clean up the mess left by Garcia, he was also big part of that mess.

by Gygax on Dec 8, 2008 4:50 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

F that juicer.

by lbk on Dec 8, 2008 5:55 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yee of little knowledge. He cannot take what they accused him of taking. It wouldn’t just be bad for his body … it’d kill him.

"A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on." - Sir Winston Churchill

by FlyByKnight on Dec 8, 2008 9:28 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What evidence is there that his case has problems?

by Lynchman on Dec 8, 2008 10:04 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Fightlinker covered it pretty exhaustively here and here. But for my dollar the biggest strike against the CSAC was their decision to conduct no drug testing at all at the last Strikeforce event. That signals an understanding on their part that their old methodology was completely useless.
I have no problem with Silva being fined but IMO his suspension should be reduced and he should be allowed to fight in Japan.

by Kid Nate on Dec 9, 2008 10:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

He’s Brazilian, correct? It’s kind of tough to think that he should honor a California suspension outside of the US. Especially if it is BS which only he really knows.

by penxv on Dec 8, 2008 10:21 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

sure as long as he doesn’t plan on fighting in the states again.

by Kid Nate on Dec 9, 2008 10:15 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

It is hilarious he has a team of people who tried to fight CSAC… but none of them bothered to read the damn website that tells you you will test positive for steroids?

I don’t understand the need to take Novedex anyway. Weighlifters take the stuff as a way to legally take something very very very steroid like, although this isn’t a very good one. most peopel take it for post cycle therapy after coming off a steroid or prohormone as it can completely eliminate estrogen protection ( a problem with coming off, estrogen rise = gyno aka man boobs). Some people use it as a stand alone as it really isn’t a very good one as it commonly dries up your joints which can’t be good for mma lol.

I just don’t understand why a big, strong 265lb hw would bother taking something which from the results I have seen on weightlifting sites I post on, may give you 10lbs of muscle. maybe. Especially something that says on the website IT WILL CAUSE YOU TO POP POSITIVE.

meh… its hard to feel sorry for stupidity.

by dbcb on Dec 9, 2008 12:01 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

That’s the thing I don’t get about this whole situation.

What does the actual steroid do that the supplement doesn’t that would make it dangerous for Silva to take?

by Phildo on Dec 9, 2008 12:28 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Junior has Agromegaly AKA Hatton’s . The gland that regulates hormones is defective in some way, so the subject gets an extra boost of some hormones. Including testosterone.

I believe Junior got busted with a false positive of Baldernone. Baldernone is horse steroid. A guy with Junior’s condition taking Baldo is like throwing nitro into a fireworks factory. He would be very prone to cardiac arrest and death upon taking steroids of any kind.

In short, if what CSAC believes is true, they’ve just suspended a dead man.

by RoyalB on Dec 9, 2008 2:25 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

At least get...

…your terminology correct. It’s bitch tits…not man boobs ;)

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

by Brent Brookhouse on Dec 9, 2008 12:43 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

meh… its hard to feel sorry for stupidity.

Especially when most ACs tell you in your application to look out for what you put in your body.

by asa on Dec 10, 2008 4:20 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

200K

Didn’t this guy make $200,000 to fight back in the end of July? Plus, he had a fight earlier in 2008. What kind of financial commitments with serious financial consequences could he have gotten himself into? Poor sasquatch.

by Thunder Lips on Dec 9, 2008 8:43 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

It is known fact that Novedex can produce a false positive for Boldenone.

via Fighters.com

If it’s so well known, then why on Earth would a professional fighter, who has to know there is a very realistic possibility of being tested, take the supplement?

Also, how does an over the counter supplement cause a human being to test positive for having horse steroids in their system?

by Brett Jones on Dec 9, 2008 11:45 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

“If it’s so well known, then why on Earth would a professional fighter, who has to know there is a very realistic possibility of being tested, take the supplement?”

^The million dollar question.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 9, 2008 11:51 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

And that’s why I don’t get the CSAC’s new policy that they will take into account if you are taking a supplement that has a history of false positives when doing drug testing in the future. Now all someone has to do is take a supplement that gives false positives, then take the drug that the supplement will test positive, then you win. You test positive, then just say it was the supplement.

I’ve said it before, but the AC’s really need to get together and come up with a list like the NFL has. A list that says, these supplements are not tainted, these supplements will not make you test positive, if you take something not on the list, and test positive, you are suspended.

In other words, any supplement that is known to give false positives is also illegal.

by Phildo on Dec 9, 2008 12:55 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

“the AC’s really need to get together and come up with a list like the NFL has”

My thoughts exactly, then if the idiots test positive, no leniency at all. They need to have ever expanding “approved” and “unapproved” lists. I think the NFL has a list of approved supplements and apparently some sort of “hotline” you can call in and get info on substances, though it still needs some work as shown by Viking receiver Bernard Berrian calling in and getting no response on several occasions. Honestly, I don’t know why all sports, promotions, ACs, etc.. don’t work together to create some sort of supplement/PED database that would list the ingredients, testing results, etc. Hell, even make it an internet site where the general public could use it.

Eliot Marshall: Bader won. Like I said in the episode, I'm not going to make any excuses. It's my job to be able to deal with when somebody's doing that. It's not his job to change up his tactics.

http://eliotmarshall.com/

by BJJDenver on Dec 9, 2008 3:11 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs