Michael Bisping to Anderson Silva: ‘You Should Be Ashamed of Yourself’

The use of performance-enhancing drugs is a problem in most professional sports, including mixed martial arts. Steps have been taken and measures put in place to make it harder to cheat the system, but athletes still try.

Middleweight contender Michael Bisping has been one of the more vocal fighters on the topic of PED use in MMA. He suffered a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort in 2013 while Belfort was undergoing the now banned treatment of Testosterone Replace Therapy. Belfort has tested positive to steroids before, and for elevated levels of testosterone.

Bisping faces former middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC Fight Night 83 on Feb. 27 in London. Silva is returning after being suspended for testing positive for banned substances prior to and after his UFC 183 bout against Nick Diaz last January. Bisping thinks the former pound-for-pound fighter should be ashamed of himself.

RELATED > Anderson Silva Opens Up About Failed Drug Tests: ‘I’ve Never Cheated’

“We’re all chasing a dream. All fighters have the dream of being the champion, and you’ve got to do it through hard work and determination. Anderson Silva tested positive to not one, not two, but three banned substances in your body,” said Bisping during a media conference call on Tuesday.

Silva is widely regarded as the greater mixed martial artist ever, but after the Brazilian tested positive for banned substances, including steroids, Bisping lost all respect for the fighting legend.

“I’ve lost a lot of respect for him for that,” said the Englishman. “I have never taken a performance-enhancing drug in my life, and anybody that does should be ashamed.

“To call yourself a martial artist and take performance-enhancing drugs, you’re the biggest contradiction you could ever make, and you should be ashamed of yourself,” Bisping said while addressing Silva directly.

Leading up to their showdown at the The O2 Arena in London in February, Bisping wants Silva to be tested multiple times to ensure that the former champion enters the fight fueled by nothing more than his natural abilities.

“I want him tested throughout the camp,” he said. “I hope that happens. I hope Anderson is tested many times because he should be tested many times because he failed the test, not once, not twice, but three times.”

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