Anderson Silva pulled as coach on ‘The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil’

Anderson Silva, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champion, is awaiting official discipline from the Nevada Athletic Commission as a result of a failed drug test that was revealed last week.

The first repercussions were felt Monday, however.

At the request of the NAC, the UFC removed Silva as one of the coaches on the fourth season of “The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil,” which is filming in Las Vegas.

“The UFC and Globo, the show’s Brazilian broadcaster, respect the commission’s decision, which will allow Silva to focus his attention on the matter before the commission,” a statement from the organization read.

“Anderson Silva has been an amazing champion and a true ambassador of the sport of mixed martial arts, and the UFC will continue to support him as this process unfolds.”

A commission official confirmed the NAC requested Silva be removed from the show.

Silva was replaced by Rodrigo “Big Nog” Nogueira. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua remains the opposing coach.

The developments were the latest since the NAC revealed Silva tested positive for Drostanolone and Androstane in a test conducted Jan. 9, less than a month before he defeated Nick Diaz by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 183 on Jan. 31 at the MGM Grand Garden.

The results of a test administered to Silva on Jan. 19 by the NAC came back clean. Representatives for Silva have indicated through Brazilian media a belief that Silva’s positive test was the result of a tainted sample. Results from the ‘B’ sample of the Jan. 9 test have not been returned to the NAC from the lab. The commission is also awaiting the results of Silva’s fight-night test.

Silva is expected to appear before the commission Feb. 17, when his win is likely to be overturned to a no-contest. He also most likely will be fined and suspended.

■ HENDERSON MOVE TEMPORARY — Former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson agreed to take a short-notice fight at welterweight against Brandon Thatch in the main event of a card Saturday in Broomfield, Colo., as a favor to the UFC.

He plans to return to 155 pounds after the fight.

“We definitely know this is not a permanent move for me at 170,” Henderson told Fox Sports. “I will be going back down to 155. It was just (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva and (UFC president) Dana White needed a favor. They asked me, ‘We need a main event for this card,’ and I said, ‘OK, I’m your guy, I can do that.’ ”

The main card airs live on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329) at 7 p.m., with the preliminary card airing on the network at 5.

■ ROUSEY IN SWIMSUIT ISSUE — UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is featured in this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

Speaking to USA Today, Rousey called the annual issue a “cultural standard” that she paid attention to growing up.

“The media directed at men with women is what women pay attention to the most,” Rousey said. “When it came to what standard I gave myself growing up and what I thought that I should look like, I was looking at the women that I could see the men I wanted found attractive. I thought if this is what the guys I like like, then I should look like that. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue wasn’t like Playboy or all those others. It wasn’t so fake and plastic.”

Rousey shot the photos for the issue last fall. She said she intentionally showed up at the weight at which she walks around instead of her fighting weight of 135 pounds, a different approach than when she shot the ESPN The Magazine Body Issue.

“I purposely tried to get a little bit heavier for the SI issue, so I was a little bit curvier and not in top fight shape look but the look at which I feel I’m the most attractive,” she said. “It’s very natural for a person’s body to go through seasons.”

Rousey is scheduled to defend her title against Cat Zingano in the main event of UFC 184 on Feb. 28 at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

■ VANZANT SET FOR SECOND UFC BOUT — Reno resident Paige VanZant scored a third-round knockout of Kailin Curran in her UFC debut in November, and now she’s ready for more.

VanZant, 20, will fight Felice Herrig on April 18 in Newark, N.J., on Fox.

I have a lot to prove, but I don’t have anything to lose,” she said at UFC 183. “I can just go out there and do my best.”

When the fight was announced last month, VanZant was quoted as saying the matchup was expected, as the organization was trying to pit “two hot girls” against each other.

She clarified the statement a bit.

“I think me and her will always be perceived that way,” VanZant said. “I was saying that’s what other people think about us. We were born this way; it’s nothing we can change. We have to prove that we’re the toughest fighters out there, and I know I’m going to prove that I’m not just a pretty face.”

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.