5 fighters who were expected to be clean but weren't

#2 Anderson Silva

Anderson Silva's positive drug test took everyone by surprise

Similarly to Lyoto Machida, nobody ever expected Anderson Silva to test positive for PEDs. The legendary former Middleweight Champion was in the twilight of his career – returning from a devastating leg break – when he was busted following a January 2015 win over Nick Diaz.

Prior to this, Silva had held the Middleweight title for an insanely long period – almost seven years – and had made a then UFC-record ten consecutive title defenses. But he’d lost the title to Chris Weidman in 2013 and had seen a rematch end when he broke his leg.

But everything regarding his reputation changed following the Diaz fight. Silva tested positive for a cocktail of PEDs including anabolic steroids androstane and drostanolone, and anti-anxiety drugs oxazepam and temazepam.

Immediately his dominant run in the previous years was called into question, and despite claiming the positive tests were triggered by a sexual enhancement drug, he was suspended for a year by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

Shortly after his positive test, the UFC introduced the USADA programme to attempt to clean the promotion up for good.

Sadly for Silva, he was caught for PED use again in November 2017 – this time he was pulled from a planned bout with Kelvin Gastelum after testing positive for the anabolic steroid Methyltestosterone.

The whole situation surrounding Silva is both sad and disappointing, as he was a fighter that nobody ever dreamed would consider using PEDs.