Wanderlei Silva

By FCF Staff

Although Wanderlei Silva recently announced he’s retiring from pro MMA, the Nevada State Athletic Commission has handed the storied fighter an indefinite, lifetime ban.

According to multiple reports, the commission has imposed the extensive punishment, after Silva refused to take a random drug test earlier this year. In addition, the 38 year-old fighter has been fined $70,000 for the infraction.

Silva and his camp have been arguing that the fighter cannot be disciplined by the NSAC, since the former PRIDE champ wasn’t licensed in the jurisdiction to begin with. The commission decided to pursue disciplinary action anyways, by citing that Silva had agreed to fight Chael Sonnen at UFC 175 (which was held in Las Vegas).

Silva appeared in front of the commission this summer and apologized for not taking the test, and admitted to taking a diuretic, which he claimed was to help rehab an injury.

The punishment comes just days after “The Axe Murderer” announced his retirement in a video, in which a fired up Silva criticized the UFC.