UFC fighter Thiago Silva has been arrested at his home in Florida after an incident involving a gun at the Pablo Popovitch Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center.
Silva is reported to have threatened people inside the gym while brandishing a gun at around 7.45pm last night, but did not harm anyone. He then returned to his home and locked himself in.
A police SWAT team were brought in to apprehend Silva, and after a stand-off he was finally arrested at 11pm.
At this stage there’s no official word on what lead to the incident happening in the first place. It’s believed that Silva’s wife, Thaysa Silva, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt who trains under the owner of the gym, Pablo Popovitch.
The UFC issued a statement late last night after the story broke.
“This evening, we were made aware of a situation involving Thiago Silva. We are in the process of gathering the facts and have no further comment at this time.”
Silva has been in the UFC since 2007 fighting in the light-heavyweight division and has posted a 7-3 (+2nc) record inside the Octagon to date, including vitories in his last two fights.
He was scheduled to fight Ovince St.Preux on the main card of UFC 171 on March 15th, but that fight now hangs in the balance.
The 31 year-old Brazilian’s time in the UFC has been marred by two failed drugs tests. On the first occasion he admitted to having faked a urine test in January of 2011 after a victory over Brandon Vera to mask the fact he was using steroids, resulting in a year’s suspension and the result being changed to a no-contest.
In November of 2012 Silva was again suspended and had a victory over Stanislav Nedkov altered to a no-contest ruling after testing positive for marijuana.
A local news reported regarding Silva’s arrest last night can be watched in the video below courtesy of CBS Miami.
