EliteXC responds to Silva’s suspension
August 22, 2008 by Sam Caplan
EliteXC officials are now speaking out about the California State Athletic Commissions’ announcement Thursday that EliteXC heavyweight champion Antonio Silva had been suspended for a year and fined $2,500 after testing positive for the anabolic steroid Boldenone following his July 26 title win over Justin Eilers.
“We respect the California commission and the job they do. We always enjoy working with them and work very well together,” said EliteXC Head of Fighter Operations Jeremy Lappen in a prepared statement released by the company. “The illegal use of steroids is a problem in all major sports, including mixed martial arts. We certainly do not condone the use of steroids.
“But we also support, trust and have confidence in our fighter, Antonio Silva, who has denied ever taken any illegal substance, including steroids, and is prepared to challenge the results of the California Commission,” Lappen continued. “So until all the facts are known and a final decision is rendered, EliteXC will reserve making any further comments at this time.’’
FiveOuncesOfPain.com also spoke exclusively with EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw on Thursday evening and asked him if Silva would be stripped of the title if he was not successful in getting the suspension overturned.
“I think that’s a conversation that the brass needs to have,” Shaw responded. “It really depends on all the information and what the situation was.”
I love how all of the recent high-profile positive drug tests are coming from California. I’m not going to speculate on whether Sherk was taking steroids or not (at least no more than I have up until now), but I think he had something when he started making noise not that long ago. It seems pretty clear to me that someone needs to step up in California and figure out exactly what’s going on; Armando Garcia has made some unusual (in my eyes) decisions in the past, and these regular positives make me wonder what exactly is going on down there.
“We respect the California commission and the job they do. We always enjoy working with them and work very well together,”
Hmmm, sure didn’t sound like that last May when Gary Shaw/EliteXC were tossing lawsuit threats against the CSAC following the Nick Diaz escapade. At that point, EliteXC made it clear that they would think twice about holding an event in California. Of course, they blew that out of the water when the Stockton show happened.
Funny how neither EliteXC or Nick Diaz/Cesar Gracie followed through on those lawsuit threats.
I don’t see why these guys take steroids if they know they will get caught.
The real question is, why the hell did he think he’d need to take steroids to beat Justin Eilers? What an idiot.