Silva, who many previously considered to be one of the greatest of all time, continues to damage his legacy with each passing week. The former king of the UFC has now had two drug violations of this nature, with the first coming in his return fight following a nasty leg break against Chris Weidman.
The Brazilian has had a rollercoaster ride over the course of the last few years and it’s hard to see how far he’s fallen, especially given how popular the guy was at his peak.
Nonetheless, there’s no way of justifying what he’s done, especially given how long Gastelum has been waiting for a chance to face off against Anderson.
Now, Kelvin will be faced with a brand new challenge in the form of former champion Michael Bisping, but we can’t help but wonder what could’ve been had Anderson not gone down the path that he has.
Violations like these have only strengthened the argument that Anderson should no longer be considered in the ‘greatest of all time’ conversation, which is something that has also plagued the reputation of Jon Jones.
Another factor to consider in this is that the Shanghai event is an important one, with the UFC putting on their first show in mainland China. It would’ve been fitting to have Silva, an ageing veteran, ride off into the sunset with such a banner occasion on the other side of the world.
Alas, that’s not how things have transpired, and now we’re left to wonder whether or not the 42-year-old will ever return to compete for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. If he is given a one-year suspension, or even more, then we may as well say goodbye to any future fights for The Spider.
All we can do now is long forward to seeing Gastelum actually compete against a legend, only now, it’ll be Michael Bisping.
Some fans may not like USADA and others will believe that they shouldn’t have as much power or influence as they do, but regardless, nobody can deny that they’ve been extremely effective since their services were called upon.
With places like Rizin still floating around there are certainly alternative routes that Anderson can go down, but for now, we’ll simply mourn the slow destruction of a once iconic career.
