UFC terminates Thiago Silva's contract, suspends Anthony Johnson indefinitely
The UFC has again released Thiago Silva, and fellow vet Anthony Johnson has been suspended indefinitely, the promotion today announced.
Both were the result of abuse allegations.
The UFC initially released Silva after an incident in February. Police said the fighter drove to Pablo Popovitch Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Oakland Park, Fla., and threatened his wife and Popovich with a gun before fleeing to his home, which led to a four-hour standoff with a S.W.A.T. team. He eventually came out of his home and was Tasered before being taken into custody.
The charges were eventually dropped when his wife was deemed “uncooperative†after she fled the country. Earlier this month, UFC President Dana White stated Silva “went through the legal process and came out of it untainted†and reasoned, “How do you not let the guy fight again?â€
However, with additional information, likely from a recent Globo report, the organization today announced it’s terminated his contract:
Thiago Silva was released from his UFC contract on Feb. 7 due to his arrest by police in South Florida. The charges against Silva were dropped by the Broward County District Attorney’s office and Silva was re-signed to the UFC earlier this month. Based on new information received today in the form of video and audio evidence, Silva has been terminated from his UFC contract.
Johnson, meanwhile, is suspended indefinitely following allegations from the mother of his children that he struck her in 2012 and knocked out two of her teeth. She also alleges he’s been threatening her. BloodyElbow.com‘s Brent Brookhouse first reported the depth of the allegations.
The UFC’s statement read:
We are aware of the situation involving Anthony Johnson. As a result, we are suspending him indefinitely. We are using a third-party law firm to conduct a formal investigation and once we have more information, we’ll determine whether further course of action is necessary.
Johnson subsequently posted a statement on Facebook:
Anthony Johnson
4,752 followers · 2 hrs ·
The shit ppl will say and the lengths ppl will go just to tell a Fucking lie is ridiculous.
That's all I'm going to say and thank you all for the support and positive feedback that I'm getting.
Silva (16-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC), a 31-year-old Brazilian who first joined the UFC in 2007, hasn’t fought since an October 2013 win over Matt Hamill. Upon his re-signing, the light heavyweight had planned to make a return to the cage in early 2015.
Johnson (18-4 MMA, 9-4 UFC), who’s ranked No. 5 in the USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA light heavyweight rankings, recently fought his way back to the UFC and picked up wins over Phil Davis and Antonio Rogerio Nogueria to move into title contention. The 30-year-old was initially released in 2012 following a loss and a series of weight-cutting gaffes as a welterweight.
