Antonio Silva Video Interview

Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva is currently weighing his options after the California State Athletic Commission on Wednesday voted to uphold his yearlong suspension and fine.

The commission flagged Silva for the steroid Boldenone following his heavyweight title fight with Justin Eilers at Elite XC’s “Unfinished Business” in July.

“I think they’re unfair,” Silva said in a video interview with MMAWeekly following his hearing. “I’ve gone to a far extent to prove my innocence, and they don’t listen. It’s the law, or maybe it’s not the law, but it’s very wrong.”

The former Elite XC champ maintains he can’t take Boldenone because it would endanger his health. Silva suffers from acromegaly, or “gigantism,” that causes him to produce excess growth hormone. He says he takes over the counter testosterone “enhancers” for health reasons.

“I take it because of my condition, I have high (growth hormone) levels, and that tends to make my testosterone low,” he said. “Because of that, I have to use substance that help bring my testosterone levels up.”

Four weeks prior to his fight, Silva ingested Novidex, a supplement designed to maximize testosterone production. During the hearing, Silva’s lawyer, Howard Jacobs, made the argument that the supplement was not on the CSAC’s list of banned substances—though no such list currently exists—and could not be considered in the same category as “drugs, alcohol or stimulants” that are the current standard for athletes suspended by the CSAC. 

Jacobs produced test results from another laboratory, Aegis Labs, that tested a separate urine sample from Silva taken 40 days after the commission’s test. It reportedly came back negative for Boldenone, but did show the presence of ATD, a testosterone aid that produces metabolites of the illegal steroid, according to the Aegis doctor who conducted the test.

Jacobs claimed Silva could not have been positive for Boldenone given its extremely long half-life, compared to the relatively short half-life of ATD.

Somewhat ironically, CSAC commissioners raised questions about the chain of custody for Silva’s Aegis sample, which Jacobs could not provide documentation for. Chain of custody was one of the central pieces of Jacob’s defense of Sean Sherk in December of 2007.

Commissioners also noted that Silva could not produce proof that he’d ever purchased the Novidex.

Commissioner Dr. Christopher Giza noted that a level of even 1 nanogram of Boldenone in the body was widely accepted as proof of steroid use, and confirmed that Aegis labs had a more lax standard of testing for the steroid, accepting levels up to 10 nanograms in a test sample. CSAC’s laboratories, Quest Diagnostics and WADA facility Laboratoire De Controle Du Dopage, hold a 1 nanogram standard. Jacobs countered that he was not granted access to those laboratories.

The CSAC did affirm that its WADA laboratory found ATD metabolites in Silva’s “A” and “B” sample taken after the July fight.

At the conclusion of both sides’ arguments, the motion to uphold Silva’s suspension and fine was unanimous.

Outside the hearing room, Silva said he would continue taking supplements like Novodex. He also agreed to suspend his use of the product to fight in California again.

“Yes, I’ll fight here (in California),” he said. “I’ll prove I don’t need these things to fight, even though it seems to me the commission has some sort of grudge against me. I’ll still come back here and prove that I’m the best.”

With Elite XC’s demise, Silva’s future is unknown. Like many other Elite athletes, he does not know his contractual status with the defunct organization. As of now, he plans to wait out his suspension before fielding offers from promotions.

“I’m very sad that because (Elite XC) closed down, they treated me very well, and it’s very unfortunate that they’re not going to be here for me to continue fighting for.”

Silva’s attorney, Howard Jacobs, says he may file a motion to vacate—or cancel—the verdict in state court, but will weigh the options with his client.

“It’s their burden of proving that he took something that’s banned,” Jacobs said. “It’s hard to understand how when they admit it could have been caused by something that was banned or something that wasn’t banned, there should still be a suspension.”

Antonio Silva Video Interview