UFC terminates Thiago Silva's contract
With Thiago Silva in a Florida jail and facing a slew of very serious charges, the UFC has terminated the contract of the Brazilian light heavyweight.
UFC officials today issued a statement confirming their decision.
“The Ultimate Fighting Championship has terminated the contract of Thiago Silva, effective immediately,†the statement read.
Silva was arrested on Thursday night following an altercation at Pablo Popovitch Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Oakland Park, Fla., where Silva’s estranged wife trains. There, police allege, Silva threatened his wife, Thaysa, with a gun, and told her that if Popovitch didn’t come out of the school, he would go inside and begin shooting. After Popovitch emerged, then went inside to call police, Silva fled to his home, where a four-hour standoff with a S.W.A.T. team ensued before he surrendered nonviolently, police said.
On Friday morning, Silva appeared in front of a Broward County (Fla.) judge, where his initial charges of felony attempted murder reduced to aggravated assault with a firearm after Hurley ruled there was no probable cause on the attempted murder charges. Still, the fighter will remain jailed without bond after Judge John Hurley determined the UFC light heavyweight remains a “legitimate concern†to his wife and others around him based on what “looks like ongoing domestic violence in the relationship,†despite initially planning to set the combined bond at $2,500,100.
According to arrest and police documents read aloud by Hurley during Friday’s court proceedings, Silva and his wife separated in 2012. But on Jan. 30 of this year, the judge read, Thaysa Silva called 911 to report a domestic altercation. She told police that in an argument with Silva, he picked up a silver revolver, pushed her down, said he was going to kill her, put the gun in her mouth and held her down. Thaysa Silva obtained a temporary injunction against Thiago at that time, Hurley said.
Prior to the organization issuing an official statement, UFC President Dana White told TMZ.com that, “This guy will never fight in the UFC again.â€
