Love you guys
— Sergio DaSilva (@thesavage125)
December 16, 2020
Sergio da
Silva, a former Bellator MMA and Cage Fury Fighting Championships competitor,
has died at age 34.
MyMMANews
first reported the unfortunate news of da Silva’s passing on
Friday. UFC lightweight and friend of da Silva Jared
Gordon has since confirmed this Instagram. Da
Silva’s management team informed Sherdog on Friday that da Silva
passed on Wednesday evening, and that the remainder of the details
are being withheld out of respect to his family’s privacy.
“(Insert generic caption of mental illness/addiction and other
various reasons for why all your friends die and wish they had
reached out first) f— this world. Love you Sergio,” Gordon wrote
on his Instagram page on Friday about da Silva.
Da Silva was
convicted of third-degree robbery for holding up a bank in
Queens, N.Y., in August 2017. Although initially found guilty by
the jury, he was not sentenced to prison. According to the
NY Post, several allegations of juror misconduct were levied,
including claims that one juror that researched da Silva ahead of
the case. At his trial, ex-mob boss John Gotti Jr. spoke on da
Silva’s behalf, claiming that, “I believe the kid is innocent.”
Gotti’s son, John Gotti
III, trains with da Silva at Long Island MMA.
The New York native last competed in May 2018 at the first and only
CES MMA event in New York. There, he faced
Walter
Smith-Cotito, and won by disqualification in the second round
when Smith-Cotito kneed him in the head while da Silva was
grounded. Sporting a 7-9 mark throughout his career that includes
nine appearances with CFFC over the years, “The Savage” also
stepped inside the Bellator cage on two separate occasions. Of
note, da Silva faced off against future Ultimate Fighting Championship fighters
Aljamain
Sterling and Alptekin
Ozkilic in his first two pro bouts. Da Silva lost to both men
by decision.