UFC Denies Reports Of Withholding $6 Million From Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva’s controversial pre-fight drug test failure before his UFC 183 win over Nick Diaz is going to cost him.

Silva is currently temporarily suspended by the NSAC and will find out his fighting fate at a hearing in March or April, and it appears that the UFC is waiting to hear the results before releasing “The Spider’s’” massive payday for his win over Diaz.

According to a report from Brazilian site Veja, the UFC has blocked a sizeable $6 million dollar payment to Silva that included his $800,000 win and show money in addition to his back-end pay-per-view (PPV) points, which obviously gained him a much larger sum of profit.

Update

The UFC released a short statement on their website stating the following:

“The financial reports made by Veja.com are not true.”

MMAJunkie.com also clarified the point by reporting that the UFC would not be responsible for blocking any funds, as they have to pre-pay the Commission for the fighters 10 days before the event:

“Before the start of a contest or exhibition, the promoter shall deliver to the Commission, checks, letters of credit or another method of payment that is approved by the Commission for distribution to the entitled persons. All methods of payment other than checks must be submitted to the Commission not later than 10 days before the date of the contest or exhibition.

Immediately after the contest or exhibition, the person designated by the Commission will release the payments to the entitled persons and will obtain their signatures on a list in which they acknowledge the payment.”

NSAC officials will decide if Silva’s win will become a No Contest on February 17, and most expect that motion to pass. No word has been announced as to what kind of a hit Silva will take to what would have been an otherwise prolific payday, but he should have his win bonus retracted and will also be facing potential fines and suspension from the commission.

The whole fiasco has left many questioning the legitimacy of Silva’s legacy, as his illustrious nearly eight-year run that featured a seemingly endless streak of exciting finishes has now come under intense scrutiny following the failed test.

Georges St. Pierre’s longtime trainer Firas Zahabi even went as far as to compare Silva to disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, noting that his pupil now undoubtedly deserves the title of best of all-time. You wouldn’t be hard-pressed to find growing numbers of fans that are beginning to believe something similar.

But Silva has insisted that he is innocent, and even if he is not, many think that he simply used the PEDs to aid his comeback from the gruesome broken leg he suffered in his UFC 168 rematch with Chris Weidman.

Either way, Silva will have his day in front of the commission. If and when he is suspended he’ll be running out of time to make a return at 40 years old.

And even though he doesn’t need more money, it looks like his PED mix-up is going to hit him in the pocketbook, as well.

Do you think that this truly is how the long-revered “Spider” will go out?

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports