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White on Silva's return to UFC following dropped charges: 'How do you not let the guy fight again?'

Jason Silva / USA Today Sports

Thiago Silva is back in the UFC after a Florida judged dropped all criminal charges against him this week.

If you'll recall back to February when Silva was first arrested, UFC president Dana White said that he would "never fight in the UFC again." It's hard to fault White given the accusations - Silva was charged with two counts of attempted murder and later had the charges downgraded to aggravated assault with a firearm - and it's equally tough to fault him now that he's backed off of that statement.

“When this thing went down, I said he'd never fight in the UFC again," White told UFC.com. "When I watched it unfold on TV and heard of the charges, it didn't look good for Thiago Silva. But he was acquitted of all charges. How do you not let the guy fight again?

"He went through the legal process and came out of it untainted. He deserves to be able to make a living again. He's back under contract."

As explained in the post below, the 16-3 [2] Silva won't fight for a while following knee surgery but could return to the octagon early in 2015. At age 31, there's still time for Silva to make a mark in the light heavyweight division if he can put a stop to his string of out-of-cage issues.

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