“I’m really sad because I know Anderson for years and I know he’s a very respected and straightforward man. Personally, I don’t know what happened. I know Anderson was always a clean guy, very clear. Anderson works hard, he came from humble origins. I don’t know what happened. But I tell you that Anderson would never take that in a dirty way. He would never use anything. We are all really sad. He’s the biggest MMA athlete of all times. He’s a correct man, would never do anything to have an advantage. He’s pure talent, he doesn’t need that,” he said. “I know he was taking some medication, corticoid. I don’t know which substance. I don’t believe he was taking medication to have an advantage. Maybe there was a problem with that, if that existed, some corticoid, something that contained a prohibited substance. That’s what I believe.

“That’s not who he is. He’s an athlete that came from humble origins, who loves to train, a really disciplined athlete inside and outside the Octagon. He has a whole team behind him. He would never do anything to damage himself, to destroy everything he built for many years.”

In a new interview with The Brazilian Media, Anderson Silva’s boxing coach, Luiz Carlos Dorea proclaims his fighters innocence.