And just like that, Thiago Silva's UFC career is (probably) over…
Late last night, Silva—who is 16-3 since making his UFC debut back in 2007—was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. According to multiple reports coming out of southern Florida, Silva was arrested after he barricaded himself inside of his home with a weapon and refused to come out. A SWAT team reportedly set up a perimeter around Silva's home and eventually convinced him to come out. But he obviously caused a huge scene before SWAT got him out of the house.
So why did Silva barricade himself inside of his home? Well, that's where things get really crazy. According to TMZ Sports, Silva was involved in an altercation at the Pablo Popovitch Mixed Martial Arts Academy early Thursday evening. Silva made a trip to the school, found his wife hanging out there, and accused her of having an affair with Popovitch, an instructor at the school. He then allegedly pointed a gun at her and instructed his wife to go inside and bring Popovitch out and said, "If he does not come out, I will go in the gym and start shooting everyone." Popovitch emerged from the school several moments later to try and calm Silva down before re-entering the school to call 911. And that's when Silva reportedly took off, made his way back to his home, and barricaded himself inside.
As we mentioned earlier, the SWAT team was able to get Silva out of his home without further incident. He was taken to a local police station a short time later and charged with two counts of attempted felony murder, one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and one count of resisting arrest. Here's the mugshot he took after getting arrested:
Oh, and as if all of that wasn't bad enough news for Silva, TMZ managed to get UFC President Dana White on the phone very early this morning to comment on Silva's arrest. And he told them, "This guy will never fight in the UFC again." So it sounds like Silva won't take part in UFC 171 as planned.
What a wild story. Stay tuned for further details.
UPDATE:
Silva appeared before a judge early this morning. The judge threw out the attempted murder charges that Silva was hit with last night. "It just seems if he wanted to shoot Mrs. Silva, he would've done it," the judge said. "He didn't do it." Silva isn't off the hook, though. The judge did hit him with two counts of aggravated assault with a firearm, and Silva is being held without bond at the moment.
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[via TMZ Sports]
