THE CANADIAN PRESS
LAS VEGAS — Brazilian light-heavyweight Thiago Silva has been banned for a year and fined US$33,750 after admitting to doping and tampering with his urine at a UFC 125 drug test.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission handed down the ruling after a hearing Thursday.
Silva’s win over Brandon (The Truth) Vera on Jan. 1 was turned into a no contest. He cannot reapply for his license to fight until Jan. 2, 2012.
The 28-year-old mixed martial arts fighter from Sao Paolo came clean last week after the Nevada commission alleged he submitted a specimen that was "inconsistent with human urine" before the bout.
Silva subsequently issued a statement acknowledging he had taken a prohibited substance and then tried to conceal it by using a "urine adulterant."
"I did so in an attempt to alter the results of the test and knowingly broke the rules of the Nevada Athletic Commission," he said. "This was a terrible decision on my part for which I will be punished. I am prepared to accept this punishment, learn from it and move on.
"I apologize to the commission, the UFC, Brandon Vera and the MMA fans."
Vera, after suffering his third straight defeat, was cut by the UFC in the wake of the Silva loss. But he has since been reinstated.
Silva (14-2 with one no contest) is a highly regarded 205-pounder whose lone losses have been to Rashad Evans and Lyota Machida, both former UFC light-heavyweight champions.
In his statement, the six-foot-one Silva said the chain of events leading to his decision to cheat started with a severe back injury shortly before the Evans fight in the main event of UFC 108 in January 2010.
In order to fight, he took injections containing a prohibited substance and then tried to mask the presence of these substances in his urine.
