UFC vet Wanderlei Silva called to appear at next week's NSAC meeting

Wanderlei Silva has been called to appear at a Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting next week to address his alleged refusal to take a random drug test.

NSAC chairman Francisco Aguilar requested the fighter’s presence at a June 17 meeting in Las Vegas, but he’s yet to receive a response, he told MMAjunkie. Regardless of whether or not Silva shows, however, he said the commission will review the case and decide whether any administrative actions will be taken.

On June 2, Silva received a letter from the commission via certified mail: “The Nevada State Athletic Commission believes that you have information important to the commission, and … is requiring your attendance at the next Commission meeting. At that time, the Commission will discuss your ability to compete in unarmed combat.”

NSAC Executive Director Bob Bennett will testify during the meeting, as will a drug collector the 37-year-old Silva reportedly evaded at his Las Vegas gym, Aguilar said. Given Silva’s status as an unlicensed fighter at the time of his test, the options available to the NSAC for dealing with his actions are unclear, he added.

In a video response to the controversy over the random test, Silva claimed the collector showed up at his gym asking him to sign papers in English and didn’t properly identify himself. In response, he said he couldn’t read English well and needed his lawyer to sign anything; he then left the gym to attend to other business.

Even before the video was released, however, Silva was removed from a UFC 175 fight with Chael Sonnen after the alleged incident and replaced with Vitor Belfort, whose fate is now uncertain after Sonnen failed a random test and was scratched from the July 5 pay-per-view card.

The NSAC targeted Sonnen and Silva for random testing during Memorial Day weekend, when UFC 173 took place in Las Vegas. Sonnen came back positive for two banned substances, anastrozole and clomiphene.

UFC President Dana White took little interest in Silva’s video response when asked about it during a media scrum at this past month’s UFC Fight Night 40 event. He said he had only communicated with the fighter via text and his explanation was “not much that made sense.”

Given his troubles with the commission, White said, Silva’s career hangs in the balance.

“We’ll see what happens,” White said. “He’s going to have a hard time getting licensed again.”

Silva (35-12-1 MMA, 5-7 UFC) most recently appeared in the octagon in March 2013, when he stopped Brian Stann in the headliner of UFC on FUEL TV 8. After an extended layoff, he signed on this past fall to coach “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 3? opposite rival Sonnen (28-14-1 MMA, 6-5 UFC). The two were slated to fight at UFC 173, but an on-set brawl injured Silva’s back and forced the UFC to reschedule the bout to UFC 175.

For more on UFC 175, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.