Dana White: Despite failed test, Anderson Silva will still coach 'TUF: Brazil 4'

Anderson Silva

Despite a failed drug test due to a pair of steroids, former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva will still be a head coach on the upcoming fourth season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.”

UFC President Dana White today released a statement confirming the plans.

Silva and fellow veteran Brazilian vet Mauricio Rua were announced as coaches back in October, though they won’t meet in a typical post-show fight. The series soon begins filming ahead of an expected April debut on Globo in Brazil and on UFC Fight Pass in the rest of the world.

White’s statement:

Anderson Silva has been one of the greatest athletes this sport has ever seen. He has had a long and distinguished career in mixed martial arts. In his nine years with the UFC, Anderson has never tested positive for a banned substance. In light of this, we want to ensure that Anderson gets his due process and we will support him during this time. While this process plays out, Anderson will continue in his role as coach of ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.’ Of course we will continue to monitor the actions of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

We fully support the commission’s out-of-competition drug testing program, which we have financed when requested over the past two years. Testing of this nature is important to help keep the sport clean. The director at the laboratory in Salt Lake City has now explained the timing of Anderson’s test results and why the commission and the UFC did not receive the results until Feb. 3, after the fight.

Once all the results have been made public and the Nevada State Athletic Commission has rendered its decision, we will respect the process and move forward accordingly.

As announced on Tuesday, Silva (34-6 MMA, 17-2 UFC) tested positive for androsterone and drostanolone metabolites in an out-of-competition drug test prior to his UFC 183 pay-per-view headliner with Nick Diaz (26-10 MMA, 7-7 UFC) on Jan. 31. He claimed his innocence in a statement sent to MMAjunkie earlier today.

As MMAjunkie previously reported, more than 600 hopefuls attended a “TUF: Brazil 4? open tryout session in Rio de Janeiro. Lightweights and bantamweights were invited to the session.

The show features a unique twist for this season: After an elimination fight in Brazil, 16 fighters will travel to Las Vegas, where the show will be filmed. Past seasons have been filmed fully in Brazil.

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For complete coverage of UFC 183, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

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