Even when fighters know they’re clean and doing everything right, they still get nervous about peeing in a cup for an athletic commission.
Professional Fighters League (PFL) returns for their fourth event of the 2023 season this weekend (Thurs., June 8, 2023); however, five of their Light Heavyweights in the season have been suspended and removed from the season, including the 2022 champion, Rob Wilkinson, and one-time UFC title challenger, Thiago Santos.
Josh Silveria, who returns to action against Delan Monte at PFL 4 in hopes of winning $1 million later this year, had two of his teammates American Top Team (ATT) fail drug tests after PFL 1 in Las Vegas. While his test came back clean, he was still nervous.
“I don’t care what anyone says; anytime you gotta piss in a cup, that s—t gets you nervous no matter what,” Silveira told MMA Mania. “Even if you’re in the clear. I’m like; I don’t know, did I do something in my sleep? You’re just getting nervous in general. You know what I mean? So, when I found out there was a handful of guys that got picked up from that stuff. I was bad for myself. And I was feeling like, what did I do wrong? Did I do anything? What did I do? I’m just a steak and potatoes guy, man; I don’t even take creatine, to be honest. People told me I should start taking creatine; they said it’s a very good supplement. But I don’t even take it, you know, I’m just rice and beans- a good old Brazilian big boy.
“So yeah, I was a little nervous, and I was kind of prepping my mind to be ready,” he continued. “Man, I don’t know, I did a bunch of Nevada State Commission things, you know, reading some stuff online. Whether it was for supplements or marijuana use, I was reading all these things to try to educate myself, and then I got the phone call back … and my name wasn’t in that group. So my dad was like, ‘If your name wasn’t part of that group, you’re probably in the clear.’”
After Silveira found out the names that failed the drug test, he sat back and reflected on one fighter that looked big during fight week and got popped: Will Fleury.
“I started analyzing the whole thing, and I was like, that Will Fleury guy was awfully kind of big,” Silveira said. “He was huge. Dude, he was unexpectedly big. Not gonna lie. I was talking about it with my dad and was like, ‘Holy crap. I’m not talking smack or anything.’ I’m probably one of the smaller guys in the division. So for somebody like me, my eyes were getting kind of big — that dude looks like security. You know? A big ol redhead.”
With six points, Silveira is one win away from securing his spot for the PFL playoffs that will go down in August 2023 from San Antonio, Texas.
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This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
