MMA legend Anderson Silva has found one benefit that doping has in the fight game, as he is in favor of fighters taking PEDs to prevent or mitigate the chances of injuries.
Anderson Silva favours doping as fighters “put themselves in an extreme situation”
Being one of the most legendary combat sports figures of all time, “The Spider” as enjoyed a stellar career in MMA and has also made an impact in the boxing world as well. A former UFC middleweight champ who was at the 185-pound throne for seven years, Silva has earned victories over the likes such as Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Dan Henderson, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia and many more top fighters in the sport.
All that being said, Silva’s legacy does have its share of controversy. The Brazilian has failed dope test twice in his career, the first in 2015 after defeating Nate Diaz, testing positive for Androsterone and Drostanolone. The second time was in 2017, prior to facing Kevin Gaseltum.
Looking back at them being three years away from the UFC, Silva doesn’t regret the PED usages as speaking on the Flow podcast, the Brazilian stated that he is in favour of fighters doping as he believes it is useful and sometimes a must for fighters to recover.
“The kind of training an MMA fighter goes through is completely different than any other athlete from a combat sport,” said Silva. “They put themselves in an extreme situation. You have to train boxing, jiu-jitsu, wrestling. There’s physical preparation on top of that. There was a time when everyone was getting injured. If you’re taking something on doctor’s orders, and it’s not out of control, you’re not going to get injured.”
“That’s also not going to change a performance at all in the fight,” he went on, “I’m in favor of testing on fight week. If you test positive for doping on fight week, then you f-cked up. A guy who’s training to fight on the same level as those guys who are at the top, there’s no way he’s not going to get injured. There’s no way. It’s so hypocritical.” [H/T Bloody Elbow]
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