Brazilian heavyweight Antonio Silva, who was last seen winning the EliteXC belt, lost his civil suit filed against the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC). He will be serving one year of suspension for steroid use. Silva, who was suspended and fined $2,500 for his alleged use of the anabolic steroid Boldenone, flouted his initial suspension and made his appeal to the CSAC. The CSAC proposed to suspend Silva’s manager Alex Davis for letting Silva fight after the suspension was made.

Silva was crowned the first-ever heavyweight champion of EliteXC, scoring 11-1 and a TKO in the second round against Justin Eilers, but later failed a drug test that was administered by the CSAC. The substance which was found in his system, Boldenone, is a form of anabolic steroid that was developed for veterinary use, particularly for horses. The same drug has been used before by boxers, football players, mixed martial artists, and other athletes as a performance enhancer.

Silva’s manager, Davis, said that the CSAC’s action was an attempt to extend their jurisdiction to the whole world and that Silva had to fight in Japan after the suspension, for financial reasons. Davis added that Silva has a condition called ‘acromegaly’ and needs to be treated. Silva is said to be spending $6,000 to $8,000 a month to treat this condition and thus needed to keep on fighting to make a living. Davis said that if they had to choose between pleasing the commission and Silva’s health, they would to choose Silva’s health. While it is understandable that the commission would have to suspend Silva after he tested positive for Boldenone, Davis said that the commission would have to go back and look at the facts once they had doubts. Instead, Davis said that the CSAC didn’t investigate and didn’t meet the burden of proof. From then on, he said, nothing has been fair. He also believed that the CSAC was completely wrong with this. He hoped that the new executive director, Bill Douglas, would reorganize and improve the CSAC’s testing and appeals process. At the time Silva tested positive, the CSAC was headed by Amando Garcia.

According to CSAC’s executive director, Bill Douglas, Silva was re-tested by two independent laboratories: Quest Diagnostics, the result of which served as sample “A” and Laboratoire De Controle Du Dopage, the result of which served as sample “B.” All the other players in the said event tested clean for drugs and other banned substances except for Silva.

In the plea, Silva’s attorney argued that the detected substance can be attributed to an over-the-counter supplement called Novadex, a legal testosterone-booster which Silva was allegedly using to counter the effects of his low-testosterone caused by his acromegaly. Novadex is sold in health stores and bodybuilding outlets and is approved by the FDA. It can be bought without a prescription and can be bought online for less than thirty dollars a bottle.

The CSAC acknowledged the argument of Silva’s attorney. Judge David P. Yaffe, the one who presided over Silva’s ruling, ruled that Novadex can be classified as a performance enhancing drug in cases where it is intended to affect the structure or any other function in the body.

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