Thiago Silva (fighter)

Background

Silva is from São Paulo, Brazil and had a difficult upbringing. He grew up in a very poor area and witnessed murders at a young age. To help support himself, he got his first job when he was only nine years old cleaning automobile parts. Silva was athletic, playing soccer and basketball, and attended school, but ran away from home at age 13 due to his abusive father, never to see his mother or younger brother again. He then lived on his own in the favelas or slums of São Paulo, moving into his friends' homes who would allow him to stay. While working during the day, he would attend school at night, and ended up graduating high school. The Brazilian favelas are notorious for being drug trafficking hot spots, and many of the neighborhoods are ruled by drug lords, some of whom would seek out Silva to help them and their children train. At age 18, Silva began to train in mixed martial arts and due to his poverty often had to choose between eating and training although his coach let him train for free in exchange for cleaning the facility.

Early career

Prior to signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Silva fought almost solely in his native country of Brazil. During his first nine professional bouts, he attained a perfect 9–0 record, winning seven of these bouts by KO or TKO and one by submission. Silva also won the Fury FC 2 Grand Prix in 2006 and fought in a Pancrase bout against Tatsuya Mizuno before receiving a UFC contract.

Signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Silva made his UFC debut against former WEC Heavyweight Champion James Irvin at UFC 71. During the first round, Irvin injured his knee after a takedown from Silva and was unable to continue the fight. Silva was awarded the win by TKO. Silva's next fight was against UFC newcomer Tomasz Drwal at UFC 75. Silva won the fight by TKO due to strikes in the second round.

Following his first two wins, Silva made his televised debut as part of the main card of UFC 78 against Houston Alexander. During the bout, he quickly exposed Alexander's ground game, which had been untested in Alexander's first two knockout victories. After reversing position and securing the mount, Silva rained down punches until his opponent was knocked out in the opening round.

Silva was next slated to face Rashad Evans at UFC 84, but Evans was forced to pull out after being asked to fill in for a fight against Chuck Liddell at UFC 88. Instead, Silva squared off against UFC newcomer Antonio Mendes. After being dropped and momentarily stunned by a head kick from Mendes, Silva survived the flurry of strikes from Mendes and managed to take him down, securing the mounted position. From the dominant position, Silva attacked with punches and elbows until Mendes tapped out due to strikes in the opening round.

Originally scheduled to face fellow undefeated Brazilian Lyoto Machida at UFC 89, Silva was forced to withdraw from the fight due to an injured back suffered while training. The fight was later rescheduled and took place at UFC 94. Machida won via one-punch knockout at the end of the opening round, ending Silva's thirteen fight undefeated streak.

Silva was slated to fight former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin, but Dana White instead chose to match Griffin against long time UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. He instead fought Keith Jardine at UFC 102. Early in the fight Silva countered an uppercut by Jardine with a short left hook that dropped Jardine, Silva then followed up with four punches on the ground rendering Jardine unconscious, stopping the fight at 1:35 of the first round.

He next fought Keith Jardine's friend and training partner Rashad Evans in the main event at UFC 108, and lost in a unanimous decision. Evans was able to keep octagon control through aggressive wrestling and takedowns throughout the majority of the fight, though Silva connected with two hooks that dropped Evans and momentarily dazed him in the final round. The judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Evans, resulting in Silva's second professional loss.

Silva was scheduled to face Tim Boetsch at UFC 117, but was forced off the card with a back injury and replaced by UFC newcomer Todd Brown.

Silva fought Brandon Vera on January 1, 2011 at UFC 125. He won by unanimous decision after dominating Vera with ground and pound, including open palm thrusts which resulted in Vera's nose being broken.

UFC 125 drug test

Silva was expected to face the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Quinton Jackson on May 28, 2011 at UFC 130, although there were rumors that the fight had been canceled due to injury or failed drug tests from his UFC 125 bout. In a statement with Brazilian MMA site Tatame, Thiago denied that he was injured; "Injured? Me? I’m very healthy. That’s not true and looks like the NSAC did two tests, one was positive and the other negative, I'm calm."

Following this statement, Keith Kizer, the commissioner of the NSAC, confirmed that Thiago Silva’s samples were still undergoing tests; "That’s not accurate. We have gotten only the first sample back. It could be weeks before we find out the results for the second test." The UFC didn't want to take any chances in waiting for the second test for Silva, so they replaced Silva with Matt Hamill.

On March 29, Kizer released the details surrounding the questions about Silva's UFC 125 drug test. He confirmed that the findings, after two different drug testing facilities analyzed his urine sample, were inconsistent with human urine. This suggests that Silva submitted either an altered or substituted specimen for the sample used in the drug test. The Nevada State Athletic Commission will discuss a temporary suspension at a hearing on April 7 as well as the possibility of ruling his most recent victory a no contest.

On March 30 Silva released a statement admitting using a urine adulterant.

Silva said he doesn't want to make an excuse for his behavior, but he did hope to offer an explanation for his decisions.

After the hearing, the Nevada State Athletic Commission handed Silva a one-year suspension along with changing his previous win over Vera to a no contest, forfeiture of 25 percent of his purse, and $20,000 out of a $55,000 win bonus.

Return post-suspension

Silva had served his one-year suspension on January 1, 2012.

Silva was briefly linked to a rematch against Brandon Vera on May 15, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV: Korean Zombie vs. Poirier. However, Vera was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by Igor Pokrajac. Silva, however, was pulled from this bout on March 6 when it was announced he would replace injured Antônio Rogério Nogueira against Alexander Gustafsson at UFC on Fuel TV 2. On April 14, Silva faced rising prospect Alexander Gustafsson in Gustafsson's hometown of Stockholm, Sweden. Gustafsson used his massive reach, and stayed in the outside and Silva couldn't find his distance, Gustafsson knocked Silva down with an uppercut early in the first round that also caused a relatively large cut on the forehead of the Brazilian. The judges scored the fight 30-27, 30-27, 29-28, all in the favor of Gustafsson.

Silva was expected to face former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and former Chute Boxe Academy fighter, Maurício Rua on July 21, 2012 at UFC 149. However, Silva was forced out of the bout with an injury.

Silva faced undefeated Bulgarian wrestler Stanislav Nedkov on November 10, 2012 at UFC on Fuel TV 6. Silva won the fight by arm triangle choke submission. On November 21, 2012, it was announced that Silva had failed his post fight drug test, testing positive for marijuana metabolites. Silva was subsequently suspended for 6 months, retroactive to November 10, 2012. His win over Nedkov was changed to a No Contest.

Silva next faced debuting former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion, Rafael Cavalcante on June 8, 2013 at UFC on Fuel TV 10. He won the fight via knockout in the first round. The fight also earned him his first 'Fight of the Night' and 'Knockout of the Night' bonus.

Silva faced Matt Hamill on October 9, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 29. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Silva was briefly linked to a bout with Ovince St. Preux on January 15, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 35. However, Silva was quickly removed from the bout for undisclosed reasons. The bout with St. Preux was rescheduled for March 15 at UFC 171. The bout was scrapped again on February 7 after Silva was released from his contract following his arrest the previous night.

Arrest and release from the UFC

On February 6, 2014, in Oakland Park, Florida, Silva allegedly threatened Pablo Popovitch at his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Center, and his estranged wife Thaysa, who is in a relationship with the gym's owner, Pablo Popovitch. The day before, Thaysa called police on Thiago for violating a temporary protection order. He was charged with aggravated battery and non-violently resisting an officer; the charges were later lessened to aggravated assaults by a Broward County judge, who also deemed Silva a flight risk and denied him bond. Following the arrest, UFC President Dana White said Silva will "never fight in the UFC again". Later in the day, Silva was released from his UFC contract.

On September 4, 2014 a Florida judge dropped all criminal charges against Silva.

The next day after the criminal charges were dropped on September 4, Silva was re-signed by the UFC. However, on September 19, the UFC released a statement on their website stating that Silva has been terminated from his UFC contract.

Post-UFC career

In his first fight since his UFC release, Silva was expected to face Mike Hayes at Fight Time 20 on August 29, 2014. However, Silva sustained a knee injury and the bout was cancelled.

UFC return

On September 5, 2014, it was announced that Silva had re-signed with the promotion. However, his return was short lived, as on September 19, the UFC released a statement on their website announcing that Silva's contract had been terminated due to new audio and video evidence that had been received that day.

World Series of Fighting

On January 15, 2015, it was announced that Silva had signed with the WSOF promotion. He entered a four-man tournament for the light heavyweight title.

Silva was originally expected to face Ronny Markes in the semifinals of the tournament, on March 28, 2015 at WSOF 19. Silva's opponent was later changed from Markes to be a rematch against Matt Hamill. However, the day of the event Hamill fell ill and was replaced on short notice by Teddy Holder. A heavy favorite to win, Silva lost the fight via TKO in the first round.

Other Organizations

With his contract in WSOF which allows him to fight for other organizations, Silva fought Marcus Sursa in the Gladiator MMA organization, despite winning the first round of the fight he lost in the second round after a controversial stoppage, after those two losses he bounced back by winning in Russia against Stav Economou by a unanimous decision.

Silva got scheduled to fight the veteran Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou in Brazil for the Fight2night organization. After dropping Sokoudjou in the first round, he was able to TKO his opponent at the third round, securing his second consecutive victory.

Absolute Championship Berkut

Silva faced Jared Torgeson on January 13, 2017 at ACB 51. He won the fight by unanimous decision to become the Absolute Championship Berkut Light Heavyweight champion.

Silva faced Batraz Agnaev on July 23, 2017 ACB 65. He lost the fight via TKO in the second round.

Personal life

Silva is currently married with two children.

Mixed martial arts

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu