White: Thiago Silva deserves to be able to make a living again
Dana White: “He went through the legal process and came out of it untainted. He deserves to be able to make a living again. He’s back under contract.”
Thiago Silva made national news in March after being involved in a stand off with police in Florida. Law enforcement was attempting to arrest Silva, as the fighter allegedly showed up at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida BJJ academy of famed grappler Pablo Popovitch and threatening him with a handgun.
Popovitch was romantically involved with Silva’s estranged wife, Thaysa Kamiji. However, Silva and Kamiji had been separated for an extended period before Kamiji got involved with Popovitch; the relationship was not a cause of the break up, but followed it.
Silva was taken into custody and charged initially with two counts of attempted felony murder. The fighter was released from his UFC contract within hours, and his future in the sport, and his new home of America was very much in doubt.
The court later determined there was insufficient cause to levy the murder charges, as no shots were fired. Silva was instead charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, and one count of resisting an officer without violence. He was held for weeks, before finally being released on $25,000 bond.
Silva was under contract with the UFC at the time of the alleged incident, and was released by the league immediately.
However, the Broward County Attorney’s Office recently announced that Silva was a free man.
“All charges against Thiago Silva were dropped,” read the statement. “The victim was uncooperative, and investigators determined that she has likely moved out of the country.”
Now UFC president Dana White has announced that Silva’s contract with the UFC has been restored.
When this thing went down, I said he’d never fight in the UFC again,” White told Matt Parrino for UFC.com. “When I watched it unfold on TV and heard of the charges, it didn’t look good for Thiago Silva. But he was acquitted of all charges. How do you not let the guy fight again?
He went through the legal process and came out of it untainted. He deserves to be able to make a living again. He’s back under contract.”
Silva expressed his thoughts on his return via video.
