A report by the NBC affiliate in South Florida indicated an arrest of the owner of a home, with the address listed as being owned by UFC fighter Thiago Silva, after an armed suspect allegedly threatened people at the Pablo Popovitch Mixed Martial Arts Academy.
Update: Thiago Silva faces multiple charges, including two counts of commit/attempt specified felony could cause death, aggravated battery with deadly weapon, and resisting officer-obstruct without violence.
NBC news in South Florida reported Thursday night that an armed suspect entered a Jiu Jitsu school in Oakland Park, FL and threatened people there before the Broward Sheriff’s Office was called at about 7:45 p.m. The address listed, 777 E. Oakland Park Blvd., was of the Pablo Popovitch Mixed Martial Arts Academy.
The reported suspect left the facility and locked himself inside what was reported to be his home at 2041 Coral Heights Blvd., in Fort Lauderdale, the home owned by UFC fighter Thiago Silva.
A SWAT team set up a perimeter around the home, and at about 11:15 p.m., the person in the home, whose name was not released by police, was taken into custody.
Popovitch is the trainer of Thaysa Silva, the wife of Thiago Silva, and a high level competitive black belt in BJJ.
UFC officials released the following statement late Thursday night.
“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, who has a 16-3 record with 2 no contests, was scheduled to face Ovince St. Preux at UFC 171 on March 15 in Dallas, Tex.
Silva’s two no contests were overturned decisions in fights he had originally won. He defeated Brandon Vera on January 1, 2011, a decision overturned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission when the urine he left for his sample in a drug test was determined to not be human urine.
A win over Stanislav Nedkov on November 10, 2012, was overturned when he tested positive for marijuana in testing conducted by the UFC at a show in Macau, China.