UFC middleweight Bruno Silva received a six-month suspension for an unintentional anti-doping policy violation after testing positive for a drostanolone metabolite, but is eligible to return on Oct. 11 due to retroactive suspension.
UFC middleweight Bruno Silva has accepted a six-month suspension. This was for a “likely unintentional” violation of the promotion’s anti-doping policy.
Combat Sports Anti-Doping (CSAD), UFC’s in-house anti-doping partner, announced the news on Friday. Silva tested positive for 3a-Hydroxy-2a-methyl-5a-androstan-17-one, a drostanolone metabolite, in an out-of-competition urine sample collected on April 11. The estimated concentration? Less than 1ng/ml.
Interestingly, Silva had provided a negative in-competition sample on March 30, the date of his most recent UFC appearance. He also had negative out-of-competition samples on April 30 and June 14. Despite not locating the source of the metabolite, CSAD concluded that Silva’s additional test results and cooperation indicated “low-level contaminant exposure.”
“CSAD’s science advisor concluded that [Silva’s] sample results alone indicate that the drostanolone was NOT injected,” read a statement. They believed the exposure was very likely unintentional. Moreover, based on the negative ‘bookend’ results surrounding the low-level adverse finding, there was no significant performance-enhancing benefit gained from this exposure.
CSAD also noted some internal disagreements with previous USADA positions related to Silva’s two-year anti-doping suspension for boldenone in 2019. Due to this, CSAD did not treat Silva’s latest positive test as a second violation of the UFC anti-doping policy.
Silva’s suspension is retroactive to his positive test date. Meaning? He can return to active competition on Oct. 11. The 35-year-old UFC veteran has faced tough times recently, losing three consecutive bouts and five of his past six. His latest octagon appearance saw him drop a controversial decision to Chris Weidman at UFC Atlantic City.
So there you have it. A mix of bad luck and unfortunate circumstances for Silva, but he’ll soon be back in action. Let’s see what happens next!