Pablo Popovitch releases statement following violent incident with Thiago Silva

It's been hard to miss if you follow MMA news in any way. News spread far and wide Thursday night that former UFC light heavyweight Thiago Silva was arrested after a standoff with local authorities. The details of the incident are disturbing, but reports tell Silva's actions came in the wake of an affair between his wife, who he's been separated from for over a year, and her BJJ trainer Pablo Popovitch. The confrontation begin at Popovitch's gym before Silva fled to his home.

Friday night, Popovitch released a statement on his Facebook page:

Concerning the incident that took place at Academy last night. During our evening class, at around 7:45pm. Thiago Silva was outside sitting in his car honking the horn non-stop. Thaysa went outside to talk to Thiago to understand what was happening and saw a gun. After that, I went to see what was happening and also saw that he had a gun. He seemed to be under the influence of some type of drug whether alcohol or drugs. My staff notified the police at that time, and soon after the police arrived. He took off and the police went after him.

Thaysa has been separated and living alone since December of 2012. Thiago has been charged with battery in the past and was seeing other girls and moving on with his own life.

It’s very unfortunate that this had to happen, the last thing I wanted us to see Thiago in this manner. I wish him all the best and hope this will soon be over.

Bloody Elbow will continue to keep you informed as the story develops.