Thiago Silva got the good news he was looking for.
A Florida judge ruled on Friday that the now former UFC light heavyweight fighter is to be released on $25,000 bond, according to Silva’s manager Glenn Robinson. Robinson said Silva has yet to be officially released from Broward County Jail but, “hopefully by end of the day. Working on it now,” he added.
According to Silva’s lawyer, Scott B. Saul, a trial date has yet to be set.
“Now, I await the prosecution’s evidence so that I may review and prepare my own defense,” he told MMAFighting.com. “This case will be challenged, yet I am awaiting specifics on the basis for the allegations.”
He also posted this message on his Facebook page Friday:
Prominent professional athlete and UFC fighter Thiago Silva will be released from custody. I hard fought battle for a man merely “accused”, presumed innocent and should be out of jail.
Last month, Silva, 31, was charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a weapon, one count of resisting an officer without violence, as well as one count of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon stemming from a prior incident. He was arrested on Feb. 6 following an alleged incident involving his ex-wife Thaysa Kamiji at the Pablo Popovitch Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. and a subsequent standoff with police at his home.
Silva had a bond hearing two weeks ago initially being held without bond, because the court feared extradition problems if he fled, but his case was not heard because the judge decided to transfer his case to domestic violence court.
According to CBS Miami, prosecutors fought to keep Silva in jail, maintaining he was a flight risk and threat to the community. However, Broward Circuit court judge Geoffrey Cohen disagreed and said there was no proof of that and that Silva will try to flee to his home country of Brazil. The report also stated that, as conditions for release, the judge ordered Silva to stay away from drugs and alcohol, wear an ankle monitoring bracelet, attend anger management classes and stick to a 10:00 p.m. curfew.
Just hours after his arrest last month, the UFC terminated Silva’s contract. He was scheduled to fight at UFC 171 next month against Ovince St. Preux.