UFC fighter Thiago Silva was arrested after he threatened his estranged wife and her boyfriend with a gun then barricaded himself inside his Oakland Park home late Thursday night, authorities said. Now, the gym where he made the threats is closed. NBC 6’s Claudia DoCampo has the story.
UFC fighter Thiago Silva was arrested after he threatened his estranged wife and her boyfriend with a gun then barricaded himself inside his Oakland Park home late Thursday night, authorities said.
Silva, 31, was booked into the Broward Jail on charges including two counts of attempted murder, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and resisting arrest without violence, records showed.
Silva flipped the bird to media members as he was led into the Broward Jail early Friday.
At his court appearance before Broward Circuit Judge John Hurley Friday morning, Silva was ordered held without bond.
Hurley noted that there was no probable cause to support the attempted murder charges but ordered Silva, a native of Brazil, held without bond because he posed a flight risk.
"The court believes if you get to Brazil, you're not coming back," Hurley said.
According to the Broward Sheriff's Office arrest report read in court by Hurley, Silva and his wife, Thaysa, have been married 13 years but separated in 2012.
On Thursday night, Thaysa Silva was training at the Pablo Popovitch Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center at 777 E. Oakland Park Blvd. when Thiago Silva drove up and began honking continuously, the report said.
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When she went out to meet him, Silva, who appeared to be intoxicated, pointed a handgun at her, Hurley said.
Silva told her she had 10 seconds to bring Popovitch, the owner of the center and Thaysa's boyfriend, outside or he was going to go into the school and shoot everyone, Hurley said. About 25 people were inside at the time of the incident, Hurley said.
Popovitch exited the training center and approached Silva's car and saw him pointing the gun at Thaysa Silva, Hurley said. Silva threatened to kill both of them, Hurley said.
Popovitch then went inside, locked the door and called the police, while Silva drove away, Hurley said.
Authorities tracked Silva down to his home on the 2000 block of Coral Heights Boulevard, where he refused to come out, Hurley said.
SWAT officers and deputies responded and set up a perimeter around the home, and Silva came outside after a couple of hours, Hurley said.
Deputies used a stun gun on Silva, who appeared intoxicated and said he didn't know what was going on, Hurley said.
Hurley said the day before the incident, Thaysa Silva had called police after Thiago Silva sent her a text message saying "I'm going to f--- you up and you're going to die, I'm going to hire someone to kill you and I'm going to move my girlfriend in the home."
And last month, deputies responded to the Silvas' Oakland Park home after Silva allegedly held her down and threatened her life while placing a gun in her mouth, Hurley said.
During Friday's bond court appearance, Silva's attorney, Scott Saul, argued that the attempted murder charges were inappropriate.
"I think you have somebody that is a professional fighter and there's an apprehension, they're thinking that he could kill even though he's committed offenses that are a lot less than that, there's an overreaction simply because the man, what he does for a living," Saul said.
Silva's next fight had been scheduled for March 15 in Dallas, but UFC announced Friday that he was no longer with the company.
"The Ultimate Fighting Championship has terminated the contract of Thiago Silva, effective immediately," the company said in a statement.
