The Nevada Athletic Commission issued Wanderlei Silva a lifetime ban and a $70,000 fine in September of last year, but the fighter has received a reprieve.
Nevada District Court Judge Kerry Earley filed an order on Friday reversing the NAC’s initial punishment, but the judge upheld the commission’s jurisdiction in the matter.
That means that although the court found Silva’s punishment “arbitrary, capricious and not supported by substantial evidence,” it denied Silva’s petition to rule that the commission was acting outside of its jurisdiction in punishing him in the first place.
The matter stems from an out-of-competition drug test for Silva’s scheduled UFC 173 bout with Chael Sonnen.