ELITEXC'S SILVA, AFFLICTION'S DEWEES FAIL DRUG TESTS

California State Athletic Commission Assistant Executive Director Bill Douglas has confirmed to MMAWeekly.com that Affliction fighter Edwin Dewees and EliteXC fighter Antonio Silva have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. On Aug. 1, Douglas said that both cards were “not out of the woods” and positive tests were likely on both cards.

Dewees, 26, tested positive for Nandrolone, a common illegal steroid, following his losing effort against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira at Affliction “Banned” on July 19. The level of drug in Dewees’ system, 499ng/mL, far outstrips other high profile fighters who have been ensnared by the CSAC since it began drug testing in March of 2006.

“The level of drug in his system makes it very hard to explain,” Douglas said.

Also hard to explain is Silva’s positive test, which showed the presence of Boldenone, an anabolic steroid mainly veterinarian in nature. According to Douglas, the CSAC does not record the level of Boldenone in a fighter’s system, as the drug’s long half-life in the body make false positives extremely unlikely.

Both men have been suspended one year from the end of their respective bouts, and have been fined $2,500.

Dewees declined comment saying he needed to check with his lawyer before making any statements.

Silva and his representatives were unavailable for comment.

Aside from Justin Levens, who has already been reported as testing positive for pain killers, all other EliteXC and Affliction fighters from the noted July events tested negative for any banned substances, whether recreational or performance enhancing.

Man is Dana White licking his chops at this. It's not good news when two upstart organizations who were supposed to threaten the reign of the UFC have blemishes on their record so soon in their promotion. It's not uncommon for it to happen, especially in the UFC, but with a roster of only a handful of fighters, it's a black eye. The UFC has over 200 fighters on their roster. If two of their fighers test positive, it's 1%. If Affliction only has 30 fighters on their roster and one of them tests positive, you're already at 3%.

It's not too much of a situation as it's gonna happen a lot over the next few years, in all organizations. But it doesn't look good when the upstarts are already headlining in a poor manner.