UFC president Dana White was one of many that thought the December 7 heavyweight scrap between Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva was one of the best fights of 2013.
As the fight progressed, White tweets grew in enthusiasm, starting with "What a great HW fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and ending with, "Both Hunt and Silva win FON and both get their win bonus and I might buy them both their own private ISLANDS!!!! Sickest HW fight ever!!!"
White's appreciation of the five round battle that ended in a majority draw was in evidence the next week when he took to the stage at the UFC on Fox 9 weigh-ins wearing a specially made Roots of Fight tee shirt that advertised the fantasy fight "Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva II."
When White left Sacramento following UFC on Fox 9 he tweeted out a photo of himself wearing a Roots of Fight hoodie emblazoned with the Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva.
After hearing what White had to say about the fight at today's media scrum following the UFC 168 pre-fight press conference, we probably won't be seeing the shirt or hoodie again.
In the afterglow of UFC on Fox 9, news came down that Silva had failed his UFC Fight Night 33 post-fight drug test. Silva, who was given a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) to use testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) for the fight against Hunt, showed an elevated level of testosterone.
Due to the failed test, Silva was not awarded his win bonus or his Fight of the Night bonus. He was also suspended for nine months, and the result of the fight was changed to a no contest on his record.
For White, Silva's drug test results left him feeling a bit down, "It bummed me out. I was bummed out. I loved that fight so much. I can't remember the last time we saw two heavyweights go at it back and forth like that. It's been a long time. So, I was bummed out."
The UFC president then detailed the circumstances of Silva's test, "I told you we test the s- - t out of these guys that are on TRT. We gave him his last test the week of the fight, and he was perfect. He took another shot. It put him over. And what does that extra shot really do for you? What did it really do for you the week of the fight? It destroyed everything.
Now you don't get the win money. We were giving both guys show and win money, and you won the bonus. Now you lost both your win money and your bonus money, ouch."
White then said Silva's test for elevated levels of testosterone should serve as a warning to other fighters that are using TRT, "So all you guys out there that are on TRT, and it's legal, you won't to f- - k around and take that shot after you've been tested, there's the consequences. The consequences could not be worse. Now you're on suspension for a year, you lost your win and your bonus money, and I'm sure your sponsors aren't thrilled either.
If he didn't take that shot, they would have had the same fight, probably. It's just not worth the risk."
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