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Michael Bisping: Anderson Silva ‘completely destroyed’ legacy with second failed drug test
Filed under: Featured, News, UFC
Michael Bisping always has spoken highly of fellow former middleweight champion Anderson Silva – until now.
Silva (34-8 MMA, 17-4 UFC) last week was notified by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of a potential violation of the UFC’s anti-doping policy, forcing his removal from the UFC Fight Night 122 headliner vs. Kelvin Gastelum. As a result, Bisping (30-8 MMA, 20-8 UFC) stepped in to fight Gastelum (13-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) in the Nov. 25 FS1-televised headliner in Shanghai, China, just three weeks removed from losing his title at UFC 217.
Bisping on Wednesday sounded upbeat during a media call in speaking about the opportunity in front of him on such short notice. But when asked how he felt about Silva’s stature in MMA following the second failed drug test of his career, Bisping struck a different tone.
“Well, he completely destroyed his legacy in my opinion,” Bisping said. “A lot of people have a short memory, and they’ll just remember his performances. His performances were great, but if you test positive for steroids twice? Once, you can talk your way out of it. Twice, I think the nail’s in the coffin.”
Silva has been in the discussion for “greatest of all time” for many years because of his longstanding reign as the UFC’s 185-pound champion. He won the title from Rich Franklin on Oct. 14, 2006, with a “Knockout of the Night” and then proceeded to defend the belt 10 straight times over the span of nearly six years. That stood as the record until flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson scored his 11th straight title defense last month at UFC 216.
After losing the belt to Chris Weidman and suffering a broken leg in their rematch, Silva, 42, failed a drug test around the time of his UFC 183 fight with Nick Diaz in January 2015 before USADA partnered with the UFC. Silva was handed a one-year suspension and $380,000 fine from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for that failure, which he claimed was the result of a tainted sexual enhancer.
For Bisping, who defeated Silva in a Feb. 2016 “Fight of the Night” at UFC Fight Night 84, the writing is on the wall.
“The guy was a cheat, and it’s a shame. It’s really, really disappointing,” Bisping said. “I was a huge fan of Anderson Silva. It’s just disappointing, and it’s a black eye to the sport of MMA.”
Gastelum had a hard time disagreeing.
“It’s not like I dislike Anderson, or I like him,” Gastelum said. “I feel indifferent about him. To me, it wasn’t surprising that he got caught. … I feel like he definitely tarnished his legacy with this. It is what it is, and the show must go on.”
For more on UFC Fight Night 122, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.
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