Wanderlei Silva's re-hearing again postponed by Nevada Athletic Commission
Wanderlei Silva's re-hearing with the Nevada Athletic Commission was again postponed on Monday, with the NAC electing to table the issue for a December meeting after Silva's lawyer Ross Goodman attempted to introduce a consent order -- a voluntary agreement between two parties without an admission of guilt -- he negotiated with Nevada deputy attorney general Chris Eccles.
Silva was not present at Monday's meeting. The commission ultimately postponed the discussion until December to allow ample time to review Silva's consent order.
The delay marked the latest development in a long-running story that first began in May 2014, when Silva fled from a random drug test in Nevada ahead of his UFC 175 scheduled bout against Chael Sonnen. Silva later told the commission that he ran from the test because he had taken diuretics, a banned substance which he claimed was to help with inflammation in a fractured wrist.
Silva's defense centered around Goodman's assertion that the NAC did not have proper jurisdiction to randomly test the Brazilian because he was not a licensed fighter at the time of the random test.
The commission rejected that defense during a Sept. 2014 hearing and slapped Silva with an unprecedented lifetime ban in the state of Nevada, plus a $70,000 fine. However Silva appealed the ruling and won a significant victory in May, when a Nevada district court judge ruled that the NAC's punishment was "in excess of the statutory authority of the agency."
The same judge also threw out Silva's defense, ruling that the NAC "properly exercised jurisdiction" by issuing the random test.
Both the ban and the fine were overturned though, setting up the need for a re-hearing that has since faced several delays, including one in November as a result of a clerical error that led to Goodman not receiving the necessary paperwork until the day prior to a scheduled NAC meeting.
The 39-year-old Silva (35-12-1, 1 NC) is a legendary figure of the sport who is most well known for holding the Pride FC middleweight belt during the heyday of the Japanese promotion. He last fought in March 2013, defeating via second-round knockout at UFC on Fuel TV 8. Silva has also defeated the likes of , , , and Ricardo Arona, among others.