Lawyer claims Thiago Silva's innocence and hopes UFC reconsiders his dismissal

T. Silva (photo) had his contract terminated with the UFC. Photo: Josh Hedges/UFC

Scott Saul, attorney for Thiago Silva, believes that his client will be proven innocent of the recent accusations, and can therefore be hired again by the UFC.

Silva was arrested last week accused of threatening his ex-wife, Thaíssa, and jiu-jitsu teacher Pablo Popovitch, suspecting that there was an involvement between the two. He remains imprisoned in Fort Lauderdale, in the US state of Florida, and the UFC has already announced the athlete's dismissal.

In an interview with the Combate channel website, Saul showed confidence in Thiago's innocence. “Thiago didn’t do anything they said. He is innocent, and of course he is very sad to be in prison. He had never been in trouble with the law before, he had never been arrested,” he said. “He is humiliated, very sad that all this happened.”

Saul considers that the case took on an exaggerated dimension due to the name of Thiago Silva and the fact that he is a professional MMA fighter. “I think the case did not need to take this dimension, as Thiago never hit anyone, never raised his hand at anyone or pressed the trigger of a gun. He didn't do anything violent, he didn't challenge the police in any way. His house was surrounded by SWAT teams and armored cars, suggesting that Thiago had locked himself in the house armed and that a hostage negotiation needed to take place. But that’s not what happened”, explained the lawyer. “The first thing people used against Thiago was his profession. They are using his profession as a fighter and the fact that he went through hardships as a child and became famous against himself. In my opinion, this is wrong.”

Due to events, Thiago Silva was removed from the UFC 171 card, being replaced by Nikita Krylov. Despite this, Saul hopes that the athlete's dismissal will be reconsidered if he is proven innocent. “He knows he won’t fight in March because of this criminal case. However, I imagine that if we prove his innocence, the UFC will likely reconsider that position.”