Boxing coach: Anderson Silva wouldn't take PEDs to 'have an advantage'

The Anderson Silva performance-enhancing drug saga continues to chug along. 

"The Spider" initially denied any PED use, while rumors continue to swirl that he'll eventually admit to taking them in an attempt to speed up the healing process for his horrifically broken leg. 

According to his longtime boxing coach Luiz Carlos Dorea, Silva would never use PEDs to gain an unfair advantage over an opponent.

"I'm really sad because I know Anderson for years and I know he's a very respected and straightforward man," Dorea told Globo Esporte, according to MMAFighting.com's Guilherme Cruz. "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."

In Dorea's opinion, if SIlva did indeed use PEDs, it was likely done accidentally while he was taking medication to recover from the gruesome leg injury he suffered against Chris Weidman in 2013.

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. 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.

Silva tested positive for drostanolone and androstane prior to his bout with Nick Diaz at UFC 183, and tested positive for oxazepam, temazepam and drostanolone following the bout. He was immediately handed a temporary suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission.