Silva, Diaz and Lombard temporarily suspended pending disciplinary hearings
The Nevada State Athletic Commission held a meeting on Tuesday and issued temporary suspensions to UFC fighters Anderson Silva, Nick Diaz and Hector Lombard following positive drug test results from January.
The motion passed unanimously by the commission for all three fighters to face a temporary suspension until a full disciplinary hearing can be held. The commission will work with the attorney general and all three parties to schedule dates for the hearings.
Silva tested positive for two kinds of steroids, Drostanolone and Androstane, in a Jan. 9 test and tested positive again for Drostanalone in a post-fight test Jan. 31. Diaz tested positive for marijuana metabolites Jan. 31, his third such offense in the state of Nevada. Lombard tested positive for the anabolic steroid desoxymethyltestosterone following his win over Josh Burkman at UFC 182 on Jan. 3.
The next agenda for the commission likely will be held in March and/or April; a date will be determined in the coming days. Silva, Diaz and Lombard all will have the chance to present an argument at their disciplinary hearings once they are scheduled.
In addition to the temporary suspensions handed out Tuesday, UFC bantamweight Ashlee Evans-Smith had her full disciplinary hearing after testing positive for a banned diuretic following her loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 181 on Dec. 6.
The commission voted unanimously to suspend Evans-Smith for nine months from the date of the contest and fine her 30 percent of her purse. Evans-Smith made $8,000, which means her fine will be $2,400.
Evans-Smith also has to provide the commission with a clean drug test before being relicensed in the state.
The other note from the hearing was to review the complaint from Francisco Rivera asking to have his fight against Urijah Faber overturned after an accidental eye poke led to the end of their bout at UFC 181 in December 2014.
Also, the commission voted that Urijah Faber's win over Francisco Rivera at UFC 181, which Rivera protested after an accidental eye poke ended their bout, could not be overturned based on the rules, saying it is "powerless" to change the decision. The argument was made that since referee Mario Yamasaki didn't see the foul, he didn't misinterpret the rule and make the wrong call, which is the only case in which the commission has the legal right to overturn a decision.
The vote was unanimous although the commissioners stated there may be further discussion about changing the rules regarding instant replay for instances such as an eye poke.
