Tim Sylvia
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[edit] Profile
Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American professional mixed martial artist.
He stands 6 ft 8 in (2.03m) and weighs approximately 263 lbs. (118 kg.)
He is a former 2-time Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight champion. He trains as a member of the Miletich Fighting Systems and currently fights as heavyweight for both Adrenaline MMA and Affliction Entertainment.
[edit] Early Career
Tim Sylvia began his Mixed Martial Arts career against Randy Durant at IFC - Battleground on January 19th in 2001. He won the fight by TKO in the first round.
Between January of 2001 and July of 2002 he fought 13 times going undefeated in primarily the Extreme Challenge and Superbrawl promotions. He scored notable victories over Ben Rothwell, Mike Whitehead (twice) and Jason Lambert during that time. His second victory over Whitehead and his win over Lambert were apart of a one night, 8-man tournament. Sylvia defeated Boyd Ballard and Whithead in the quarter and semi finals respectively before stopping Jason Lambert via TKO in the second round to win the tournament.
[edit] UFC Career
Capturing the Title
Sylvia made his UFC debut in September of 2002 at UFC 39: The Warriors Return where he defeated Wesley "Cabbage" Correira via TKO in the second round. After his victory over Correira, Sylvia was awarded a shot at the UFC heavyweight title owned by Ricco Rodriguez to take place at UFC 41 in Feburary of 2003. Sylvia shocked the world by defeating the heavily favored Rodriguez via TKO in the first round to gain the UFC Heavyweight Championship.
Controversy
In his first title defense, Sylvia faced 6' 11' giant, Gan McGee at UFC 44 in September of 2003. Sylvia scored a first round knockout victory to retain his title.
After the bout Sylvia tested positive to the banned substance, Stanozolol. Sylvia admitted his guilt and forfeited the title stating that he used the banned substance in order to shed excess weight. Sylvia was handed a six month suspension and $10,000 fine by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
Road back to the Title
After serving his suspension, Sylvia returned in June of 2004 against Frank Mir for the the now vacant UFC heavyweight title at UFC 48. In a gruesome finish, referee Herb Dean halted the bout after Frank Mir snapped Tim Sylvia's right forearm in an arm bar submission. Sylvia protested the stoppage at the time but later thanked Dean for saving his career.
Sylvia was forced out of competition for almost 6 months due to the injury. He eventually returned to competition outside of the UFC in a grudge match against Hammer House product, Wes "The Project" Simms at SuperBrawl 38 in December of 2004. Sylvia defeated Simms by TKO early in the first round.
Upon return to the UFC, Sylvia was given the oppurtunity to vie for the Interim UFC heavyweight title against Andrei Arlovski. A title that was created after Frank Mir suffered a severe motorcycle accident. Arlovski proved victorious in the bout after knocking Sylvia down early and then seizing an achilles lock to force the tap at 47 seconds of the first round.
Sylvia was forced to work his way back into title contention after the two title bout losses to Mir and Arlovski. Three months after the loss to Arlovski, in May of 2005, he scored a TKO over Mike Block at an IFC event. In August of that year he returned to the UFC at UFC 54 to defeat Tra Telligman via brutal head kick knockout in the first round. To earn a shot at Andrei Arlovski's now undisputed heavyweight title, Sylvia had to defeat Assuerio Silva at UFC Fight Night 3. Sylvia emerged victorious from the bout via unanimous decision.
Regaining the Title
In April of 2006, at UFC 59, Tim Sylvia regained his UFC heavyweight title against Andrei Arlovski after knocking out the Belarussian 2.43 of round 1. Sylvia was knocked down early by Arlovski but regained his composure and managed to land an uppercut to an over enthusiastic Arlovski which dropped the champion to the ground, where Sylvia cemented the stoppage with punches. With the victory Sylvia became only the second two time heavyweight champion in UFC history.
Title Reign
Sylvia defended his title againt the man he captured it off, Andrei Arlovski just under three months later at UFC 61. Sylvia defeated Arlovski by unanimous decision after 5 rounds of action that fans and media labelled "boring" and lacklustre".
Sylvia's next title defense came in the form of Jeff Monson at UFC 65 in November of 2006. Sylvia had an 11 inch height advantage over his opponent which helped him to a unanimous decision victory. Due to his performances against both Monson and Arlovski, Sylvia was criticized for having developed an overly cautious style since defeating Arlovski the second time that made for boring fights.
Sylvia was meant originally to face off against Brandon Vera for his third title defense at UFC 68 but due to contractual problems arising between Vera and the UFC the fight was nixed. Instead of facing off against Vera, Sylvia was instead faced with the challenge of UFC hall of famer, Randy Couture who was coming out of retirement for the bout.
Couture stunned Sylvia and the MMA world with a unanimous, shut out, decision victory. Couture set the tone for the rest of the night early when he knocked Sylvia down with an overhand right. Couture controlled the rest of the fight by continously keeping Sylvia guessing by mixing the fight up between striking and takedowns. Sylvia once again drew the ire of MMA fans by mentioning a back complaint he had that may have affected his performance in the fight.
Last Fights in the UFC
After the Couture fight, Sylvia took some time off in order to fix the back injury that he claims had been affecting his recent performances.
In his return fight he faced - the man he was originally slated to face at UFC 68 - Brandon Vera at UFC 77 in October of 2007. Sylvia won a unanimous decision victory over Vera in another lacklustre fight that drew a negative response from the crowd in attendance.
Sylvia once again earned a shot at a UFC title due to his victory over Vera. Sylvia would face off against former PRIDE FC heavyweight champion, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 for the Interim UFC heavyweight title, which was created after Couture "resigned" from the organisation in October.
The bout took place on the 2nd of February, 2008 and it featured a noticably more aggressive Tim Sylvia. Sylvia dominated the early going of the fight, which was punctuated by a heavy knockdown of Nogueira in the first round. However, Nogueira would turn the tables in the third round after pulling guard and securing a reversal. When Sylvia attempted to get back to his feet, Nogueira latched onto Sylvia's neck to secure a victory via guillotine choke and the Interim UFC heavyweight championship.
[edit] UFC Departure and Adrenaline MMA/Affliction
After his loss to Nogueira, Sylvia amicably parted ways with the UFC. In March of 2008, Sylvia signed a two year, non-exclusive contract with Adrenaline MMA (formerly M-1 Global) which was headed up by his manager, Monte Cox.
Shortly thereafter Sylvia was offered the oppurtunity to fight PRIDE FC heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA heavyweight championship as part of upstart MMA promotion, Affliction's inaugural event.
The bout took place on July 19th, 2008 where Sylvia was dramatically defeated via rear naked choke at 36 seconds of round 1.
[edit] Mixed Martial Arts Record
| 29 matches | 24 wins | 5 losses |
| By knockout | 16 | 0 |
| By submission | 2 | 4 |
| By decision | 6 | 1 |
| Draws | 0 | |
[edit] Gallery
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[edit] External links
http://sherdog.com/fighter/Tim-Sylvia-1061 - Professional MMA Record from Sherdog
--SamCupitt 08:09, 25 September 2008 (UTC)
