Overview

• Brazil’s National Boxing Council suspended Wanderlei Silva and Acelino “Popó” Freitas for 180 days and issued additional penalties to team members, including a 365-day ban for Silva’s coach Andre Dida and 180- or 90-day bans for several Freitas cornermen.
• The suspensions apply to CNB-sanctioned events, and the council has notified other commissions, though any reciprocal enforcement has not been decided.
• Rafael Freitas, who entered the ring and knocked Silva unconscious in the post-fight melee, was not formally suspended because he was unlicensed, with the CNB instead recommending an indefinite ban.
• Silva says he suffered fractures to both orbital bones and a broken nose, reports ongoing pain and sleep problems, and has announced plans to sue Rafael Freitas over what he describes as a criminal assault.
• The exhibition ended with Silva disqualified for repeated headbutts, and the ensuing brawl, captured on widely shared video, has fueled scrutiny of event security after Silva alleged that non-security personnel dragged him while he was unconscious.