Anderson Silva’s career is in jeopardy after the former UFC middleweight champion failed a Usada out-of-competition drug test, prompting a provisional suspension and removal from the organization’s first ever card in mainland China later this month. Silva, 42, had been scheduled to meet Kelvin Gastelum in the main event of UFC Fight Night 122 at Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, but an out-of-competition sample collected on 26 October was flagged for a banned substance, the UFC announced Friday. The promotion did not indicate in a brief statement the substance in question. Silva held the UFC middleweight championship from 2006 through 2013, the longest title reign in the promotion’s 24-year history, which included runs of 16 consecutive wins and 10 straight title defenses. He’s widely regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, if not the greatest.

Source: The Guardian November 10, 2017 22:48 UTC