Wanderlei Silva’s Lifetime Ban Reversed By NSAC

Despite having quite a lengthy and storied career as one of mixed martial arts’ most entertaining brawlers, Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva saw his career get flipped upside down last year. It all started ahead of his scheduled UFC 173 bout with rival Chael Sonnen last May.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission, prior to this bout, came to Silva’s gym to perform a random drug test in which the legendary Brazilian subsequently ran from. He later told the commission that he had used diuretics to treat an injury, and that’s why he fled the scene. However, the NSAC did not take the situation lightly, handing “The Axe Murderer” an unheard of lifetime ban and a whopping $70,000 fine.

Today (May 18, 2015) it was made clear that the commission has changed their tone quite a bit, as MMAFighting.com has confirmed that Silva’s suspension and fine have been overturned. The commission claimed that their reasoning for reversing the order was because the punishment was “in excess of the statutory authority of the agency.”

There is also another cloudy area regarding the whole situation. At the time that the test was going to be administered, Silva wasn’t actually a licensed fighter in Nevada. His lawyer, Ross Goodman, claims that the NSAC had no right to test Silva in the beginning, but that was ruled untrue by Judge Kerry Earley.

Although the punishment was lifted, Silva will still have to appear in front of the commission for another hearing.

Surprisingly, the Brazilian is actually still under contract with the UFC, but at 38 years old it’s hard to say whether or not he will compete again, especially noting his trouble relationship with the company.

Will we ever see “The Axe Murderer” slug it out again?