How do you think Anderson Silva’s legacy will be affected from a second drug test failure?
DAVE KOULA, MMATorch Contributor
To me, Anderson is a lot like Wanderlei Silva. They each had an incredible run filled with highlight reel finishes over top level opponents and were the best in the world at the time. For both those fighters, I separate their incredible runs from everything that came after. Anderson’s legacy to me takes place from his UFC debut in 2006 (not that he wasn’t a respectable fighter in Pride and abroad) to his first loss to Chris Weidman in 2013. The book is closed on that period and nothing will ever taint that incredible run.
Since that time, not only do we now have two anti-doping violations, but the excuses that followed the first one and will likely follow the second, the way he handled himself after the Weidman losses, his constant complaining about how the UFC treats him, the cheap shot he took at Bisping while trying to get his mouth guard (not illegal, Bisping’s fault, but absolutely dirty) followed by his crybaby attitude over not getting the decision (which he unequivocally did not deserve), and his uncomfortable celebration of not being killed by Daniel Cormier on 48 hours’ notice all told me that this is not a person that I admire or even like.
But none of that changes what he accomplished for seven years at the very top of the sport, and that legacy can’t be touched.
FRANK HYDEN, MMATorch Columnist
I think the only thing it really does is make it appear that Silva has been trying to hold onto to past glory by juicing up. You can’t say he was using his entire career because there’s no evidence of that. And if you open that Pandora’s Box up, who’s to say that everyone wasn’t juicing back then? Maybe they were just smart enough to stop when the tougher testing came in? This stains his legacy a bit, no doubt, but I think it’ll be more of a sad footnote than anything else.
JOHN HARRIS, MMATorch Contributor
I think it brings everything into question. It makes you wonder if during his dominant run if he was using performance enhancing drugs. During that time period the UFC was not being drug tested by USADA like they are now.
Many baseball players like Rogers Clemens and Barry Bonds are hall of famers statistically but will most likely never reach Cooperstown because of suspicion they used PEDS. Anderson Silva now has two positive tests so how can we not question his entire career? I have always considered him top 3 all-time, but I now think he can no longer be in that discussion.
JOSHUA GARCIA, MMATorch Contributor
Anderson Silva should have just retired after the first loss to Weidman and went down as one of the greatest of all time. His legacy is quickly losing its shine and is becoming tarnished more with every failed drug test and every lackluster performance in the octagon.
SEAN COVINGTON, MMATorch Contributor
His legacy was tarnished before a second failed test. If you’re pissing hot; the G.O.A.T. you are not! You can have that, that’s a “SJC” original.
NOW CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS ROUNDTABLE: Do you agree with the UFC’s decision to book Michael Bisping for UFC Fight Night 122?
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