Nevada Attorney General responds to Wanderlei Silva's motion to dismiss
The ongoing legal battle between Wanderlei Silva and the Nevada Athletic Commission hasn't slowed down since the former PRIDE champion recently submitted a motion to dismiss his disciplinary hearing on the grounds that since he wasn't licensed to fight at the time he was supposed to take a random drug test, the regulatory body has no legal recourse to punish him for not taking the test.
Silva was supposed to be tested on May 24 for his scheduled fight at UFC 175 on July 5, but he literally ran away from a commission representative who arrived at the fighter's gym to administer a pre-fight drug test. Silva later admitted to the infraction while also revealing that the reason he skipped the test was due to a diuretic he was taking at the time, which is a banned substance under commission rules.
The Nevada attorney's general office has now answered Silva's request by sending their own motion to deny the fighter's request, since he was aware that he was fighting in July, regardless of whether he was licensed or not, and the commission was within their bounds to drug test him, according to a report via Ariel Helwani on UFC Tonight.
They also stated in the motion that licensure is not a prerequisite to hand out disciplinary action in a case such as this because Nevada has the right to punish an athlete related to unarmed combat even if they haven't actually received a license yet.
The commission stated that they believe Silva is essentially asking them to adopt an absurd set of rules that would allow him "cheat without reprecussions".
Nevada Athletic Commission chairman Francisco Aguilar further told Helwani that the governing body doesn't regret testing Silva when they did, even if he didn't have a license. The commission's goal is the long-term health of the sport and the fighters and random testing plays a big part in that plan.
One other note from the commission -- they have not forgotten about the brawl that happened in August between UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier at a press event being held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The commission will be reviewing the footage and handing down possible fines or penalties, but the item was pushed back on the agenda after Jones suffered a knee injury and his fight with Cormier was delayed until early 2015.
