Tim Sylvia Fighter Profile - Ultimate Fighter

<p>Tim Sylvia is often underestimated due to his slightly flabby physical appearance and size. Despite the fact he towers at 6'8'�, has had a good amount of conditioning, and wins most of his matches shortly after they begin, his opponents often take him less seriously than they should. If he has any weaknesses it may possibly be his submission skills. Over his impressive win record, Sylvia has had only two victories by submission. It is unclear how he would fare if forced into more situations where submission wins would be the only way out, as he has proven he is more than capable of using his powerful strikes to end a fight early. But with training courtesy of Jeremy Horn, Rich Franklin, and the crew of Miletich Fighting Systems it is assumed that his grappling and submission skills are up to par. He just hasn't had a reason to demonstrate them yet. </p>
<p>Born on March 5<sup>th</sup>, 1976 in the town of Ellsworth, Maine (which earned him the creative nickname "Maine-iac") Tim would involve himself in solo and team sports throughout his youth. "I was always into martial arts," he said during an interview ."At 12 years old I took up karate and it's something I've really enjoyed". During highschool he would also join the wrestling team. After finishing highschool he would pursue Jiu Jitsu and football, but it would be a possible future in Mixed Martial Arts that would drive him forward. His debut fight in the MMA would be at an amateur event called the "Open-hand Rhode Island Vale Tudo" and he would make a name for himself by knocking out his first opponent in 12 seconds. Shortly after he would leave Team Kerr, move to Iowa and join The Miletich Martial Arts camp to continue his in-depth training. </p>
<p>For the first two years of his impressive career, Tim Sylvia would storm through events such as Gladiator Challenge, Extreme Challenge and Superbrawl, amassing an undisputed string of victories. It was of course only a matter of time before the UFC would take notice and approach him with an official contract. Sylvia would make his UFC debut at UFC 39 -The Warriors Return-. Fans not familiar with Sylvia or his record would get a taste of it up front as he would claim his first official UFC win against fan-favorite Wesley "Cabbage" Correira due to Correira's corner stopping the fight. It would be a very brutal match, as Sylvia would seem to be dealing all the punishment and Correira could do nothing but take it. Sylvia believes that if he had been given thirty more seconds after the stoppage that he is sure that Correira would have finally gone down. Tim Sylvia has always hoped for a rematch between him and Correira, but if it were to occur it would have to be an event other than Ultimate Fighting as Cabbage has since been exiled from the UFC due to contract disagreement. </p>
<p>In his second UFC event at UFC 41 on February 2<sup>nd</sup>, 2003 Tim would face off against current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Ricco Rodriguez. Rodriguez would try to bring Sylvia down to the mat to try for a submission, but Sylvia refused to get off his feet. Rodriguez was forced to continue the brawl standing up, and Sylvia simply outmatched him in that regard. The victory would also win Sylvia the Heavyweight belt. During UFC 44, Sylvia would successfully defend his title against Gan McGee. Though McGee actual had 2 inches more height than the already massive Sylvia, Tim would rock his world with devastating punches, bringing the giant down in the first round. </p>
<blockquote dir="ltr" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<p><i>"That one went to the ground because I rocked him and he didn't know where he was. I dropped him with straight right and jumped on top of him and capitalized. If I see a guy hurt, I smell the blood, and I move in for the finish,"</i> said Sylvia when asked about the fight. </p></blockquote>
<p>But despite this spectacular defense, Sylvia would soon find the belt stripped from him without even having to lose a fight. Testing positive for steroids the Heavyweight title was taken away and he was suspended from the UFC for four months. But this punishment was nothing compared to the one that awaited him at his next UFC match-up. At UFC 48, in an attempt to regain his title, Sylvia would experience one of the most disturbing sports injuries ever caught on film first-hand. In his fight with Frank Mir, Sylvia would find himself at the mercy of Mir when he became trapped in an armbar. But due to Sylvia's positioning, Mir couldn�t execute the submission properly. Sylvia would attempt to standup to get more leverage, only allowing Mir to complete the submission. Refusing to tap out, Sylvia remained in the hold until the applied pressure that Mir was putting down on the arm snapped it about three inches below the elbow. The fight was stopped and after examining his arm the doctor convinced the judges that the fight could not continue due to Sylvia�s health. Tim Sylvia rejected the claim that his arm was broken, even taking the time to wave it in front of the crowd and demanded that the fight restart. Denied a chance to prove it, Sylvia was taken to the hospital where an x-ray confirmed that his arm was indeed broken. Sylvia would have to take a few months off to recuperate. </p>
<p>After recovering, Sylvia would be given another shot at the Heavyweight title, facing off with the current champion Andrei Arlovski. But 47 seconds into the fight, Arlovski would have him down on the mat in a submission. Sylvia would have no choice but to submit and start his climb for the Heavyweight title from the bottom again. To give the title run one more shot, Sylvia would have to face and win against both Tra Telligman and Assuerio Silva. Accomplishing this, he was given a rematch with Arlovski at<i> UFC 59: Reality Check. </i>This time, Sylvia would turn the tables on Arlovski. While the "The Pitbull" did manage to knock Sylvia to the mat during the first round, Sylvia was able to recover, standup, and knock Arlovski down with a right hand punch to the chin. Sylvia would also begin peppering Arlovski's face with punches until he was signaled to stop by the judges. Sylvia had finally reclaimed the Heavyweight Title that had been stripped from him. Still the current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia awaits his next challenge with excitement. The thrill of being back on top after a history of falls and punishment has given him a new batch of energy. He is convinced that he still lacks the respect he deserves, believing people are more concerned with his physical appearance than his actual fighting skill (a belief that had fueled him to try steroids in the first place). But perhaps this has come as an advantage, as it forces his opponents to deal with what they cannot see. Tim Sylvia is expected to give the next fool attempting to take away his hard earned title a run for his money. </p>
<p><strong>UFC 61 Bitter Rivals: </strong>I'll save you the suspense here because there isn't a whole lot to highlight, but there is reason to rant. Arlovski loses the decision in this rematch to Tim Sylvia largely because he just didn't do enough to win it. He ate a few shots from Sylvia in each round. Early on, it looks like Arlovski plans to use a strategy of blasting Sylvia's legs with inside and outside kicks, but he seemed to abandon the strategy at some point in round three. Bad decision, because more than once Sylvia looked like he was having trouble walking. Rather than sticking with the leg kicks, Arlovski just keeps going for the overhand right, the same punch he's used to put Sylvia down before. He never connects though, and in the process of repeatedly going for the same punch, he gets tagged by Sylvia a lot. By the end of round five, the crowd is extremely unhappy as neither fighter is very aggressive. The decision goes to Sylvia, and I think rightly so, but arguably as much by default as anything else.</p>
<p minmax_bound="true">What you had in this fight was two fighters fighting not to lose instead of going for the win. Neither wanted to risk eating a big shot like they had in the past. Neither ever even tried to take the other down. Neither pressed an advantage when they gained one. Both guys swung for the fences from time to time, but not effectively. What flurries there were all seemed too short, but in the end neither guy was willing to take a risk. I've never seen Arlovski look intimidated, but he sure did in this one. Sylvia looked like his usual self, with decent looks here and there but little in the way of serious aggression. Tonight however, with Arlovski fighting like he did, it was enough.One other note: During the fight, some of the crowd chanted "USA" which I thought was a little odd. Arlovski trains in the U.S. and is hardly the protopical Soviet villain (if such a thing even exists anymore). </p>
<p minmax_bound="true"><strong><font size="4">Fight Record - 23-3-0<br /></font><br /></strong></p>
<ul>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">03-03-2007 - Lost to Randy Couture, UFC 68, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">11-18-2006 - Defeats Jeff Monson, UFC 65, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">07-08-2006 - Defeats Andrei Arlovski UFC 61, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">04-15-2006 - Defeats Andrei Arlovski, UFC 59, KO, Round 1, 2:43, Regains HW UFC Belt</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">01-16-2006 - Defeats Assuerio Silva, Ultimate Fight Night 3, Unanimous Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">08-20-2005 - Defeats Tra Telligmen UFC 50, TKO Round 1, 4:59</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">05-21-2005 - Defeats Mike Block, IFC, TKO Round 1, 4:59</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">02-05-2005 - Loses Title shot, HW belt to Andrei Arlovski, UFC 51, Submission Rd 1, 0:47.</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">12-12-2004 - Defeats Wes Sims, SuperBrawl 38, TKO Round 1, 1:32</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">06-19-2004 - Loses UFC HW title to Frank Mir, Submission Round 1, 0:50</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">09-26-2003 - Defeats Gan McGee, UFC 44, TKO Round 1, 1:54, Fails drug test, loses belt.</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">02-28-2003 - Defeats Ricco Rodriguez, UFC 41 TKO, Round 1, 3:09, Won UFC HW belt.</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">09-27-2002 - Defeats Wesley Correira, UFC 39, TKO Round 2, 1:43</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">07-27-2002 - Defeats Jeff Gerlick, EC 48, KO Round 1, 3:17</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">04-27-2002 - Defeats Mike Whitehead, SB 24 ROTH 2, TKO Round 1, 2:38</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">04-27-2002 - Defeats Jason Lambert, SB 24 ROTH 2, TKO Round 2, 4:13</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">04-27-2002 - Defeats Boyd Ballard, SB 24 ROTH 2, KO Round 1, 3:21</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">04-26-2002 - Defeats Mike Whitehead, SB 24 ROTC 1, TKO Round 1, 3:46</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">03-16-2002 - Defeats Matt Fremmbling, EC 47, Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">03-16-2002 - Defeats Gino De La Cruz, EC 47, TKO Round 1, 0:43</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">02-16-2002 - Defeats Ernest Henderson, EC 46, TKO Round 1, 0:36</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">11-17-2001 - Defeats Greg Wikan, EC Trials, Submission Round 3, 2:20</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">08-24-2001 - Defeats Ben Rothwell, EC 42, Decision</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">06-02-2001 - Defeats Greg Wikan, UW-UFM, TKO(Towel) Round 1, 5:00</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">04-07-2001 - Defeats Gabe Beauperthy, GC 3, Submission Round 2, 4:16</div></li>
<li>
<div minmax_bound="true">01-19-2001 - Defeats Randy Durant, IFC - BG 2001, KO Round 1, 2:05</div></li></ul>

Weight Class Eligible for Top 10 ( tick if yes )

( Seperate each weight class with a space. Tags for weight classes are: lw = light weight, mw = middle weight, lhw = light hw, he = heavy weight )

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Tim Sylvia .. WTF?!	Jlb calls out sylvia
Tim Sylvia Is Manly!	Tim Sylvia: Post Fight UFC 61
UFC 68 Couture v Sylvia	UFC 68 Couture vs. Sylvia in 3 parts (100meg each)

Tim Sylvia is often underestimated due to his slightly flabby physical appearance and size. Despite the fact he towers at 6'8'�, has had a good amount of conditioning, and wins most of his matches shortly after they begin, his opponents often take him less seriously than they should. If he has any weaknesses it may possibly be his submission skills. Over his impressive win record, Sylvia has had only two victories by submission. It is unclear how he would fare if forced into more situations where submission wins would be the only way out, as he has proven he is more than capable of using his powerful strikes to end a fight early. But with training courtesy of Jeremy Horn, Rich Franklin, and the crew of Miletich Fighting Systems it is assumed that his grappling and submission skills are up to par. He just hasn't had a reason to demonstrate them yet.

Born on March 5^th, 1976 in the town of Ellsworth, Maine (which earned him the creative nickname "Maine-iac") Tim would involve himself in solo and team sports throughout his youth. "I was always into martial arts," he said during an interview ."At 12 years old I took up karate and it's something I've really enjoyed". During highschool he would also join the wrestling team. After finishing highschool he would pursue Jiu Jitsu and football, but it would be a possible future in Mixed Martial Arts that would drive him forward. His debut fight in the MMA would be at an amateur event called the "Open-hand Rhode Island Vale Tudo" and he would make a name for himself by knocking out his first opponent in 12 seconds. Shortly after he would leave Team Kerr, move to Iowa and join The Miletich Martial Arts camp to continue his in-depth training.

For the first two years of his impressive career, Tim Sylvia would storm through events such as Gladiator Challenge, Extreme Challenge and Superbrawl, amassing an undisputed string of victories. It was of course only a matter of time before the UFC would take notice and approach him with an official contract. Sylvia would make his UFC debut at UFC 39 -The Warriors Return-. Fans not familiar with Sylvia or his record would get a taste of it up front as he would claim his first official UFC win against fan-favorite Wesley "Cabbage" Correira due to Correira's corner stopping the fight. It would be a very brutal match, as Sylvia would seem to be dealing all the punishment and Correira could do nothing but take it. Sylvia believes that if he had been given thirty more seconds after the stoppage that he is sure that Correira would have finally gone down. Tim Sylvia has always hoped for a rematch between him and Correira, but if it were to occur it would have to be an event other than Ultimate Fighting as Cabbage has since been exiled from the UFC due to contract disagreement.

In his second UFC event at UFC 41 on February 2^nd, 2003 Tim would face off against current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Ricco Rodriguez. Rodriguez would try to bring Sylvia down to the mat to try for a submission, but Sylvia refused to get off his feet. Rodriguez was forced to continue the brawl standing up, and Sylvia simply outmatched him in that regard. The victory would also win Sylvia the Heavyweight belt. During UFC 44, Sylvia would successfully defend his title against Gan McGee. Though McGee actual had 2 inches more height than the already massive Sylvia, Tim would rock his world with devastating punches, bringing the giant down in the first round.

"That one went to the ground because I rocked him and he didn't know where he was. I dropped him with straight right and jumped on top of him and capitalized. If I see a guy hurt, I smell the blood, and I move in for the finish," said Sylvia when asked about the fight.

But despite this spectacular defense, Sylvia would soon find the belt stripped from him without even having to lose a fight. Testing positive for steroids the Heavyweight title was taken away and he was suspended from the UFC for four months. But this punishment was nothing compared to the one that awaited him at his next UFC match-up. At UFC 48, in an attempt to regain his title, Sylvia would experience one of the most disturbing sports injuries ever caught on film first-hand. In his fight with Frank Mir, Sylvia would find himself at the mercy of Mir when he became trapped in an armbar. But due to Sylvia's positioning, Mir couldn�t execute the submission properly. Sylvia would attempt to standup to get more leverage, only allowing Mir to complete the submission. Refusing to tap out, Sylvia remained in the hold until the applied pressure that Mir was putting down on the arm snapped it about three inches below the elbow. The fight was stopped and after examining his arm the doctor convinced the judges that the fight could not continue due to Sylvia�s health. Tim Sylvia rejected the claim that his arm was broken, even taking the time to wave it in front of the crowd and demanded that the fight restart. Denied a chance to prove it, Sylvia was taken to the hospital where an x-ray confirmed that his arm was indeed broken. Sylvia would have to take a few months off to recuperate.

After recovering, Sylvia would be given another shot at the Heavyweight title, facing off with the current champion Andrei Arlovski. But 47 seconds into the fight, Arlovski would have him down on the mat in a submission. Sylvia would have no choice but to submit and start his climb for the Heavyweight title from the bottom again. To give the title run one more shot, Sylvia would have to face and win against both Tra Telligman and Assuerio Silva. Accomplishing this, he was given a rematch with Arlovski at UFC 59: Reality Check. This time, Sylvia would turn the tables on Arlovski. While the "The Pitbull" did manage to knock Sylvia to the mat during the first round, Sylvia was able to recover, standup, and knock Arlovski down with a right hand punch to the chin. Sylvia would also begin peppering Arlovski's face with punches until he was signaled to stop by the judges. Sylvia had finally reclaimed the Heavyweight Title that had been stripped from him. Still the current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Tim Sylvia awaits his next challenge with excitement. The thrill of being back on top after a history of falls and punishment has given him a new batch of energy. He is convinced that he still lacks the respect he deserves, believing people are more concerned with his physical appearance than his actual fighting skill (a belief that had fueled him to try steroids in the first place). But perhaps this has come as an advantage, as it forces his opponents to deal with what they cannot see. Tim Sylvia is expected to give the next fool attempting to take away his hard earned title a run for his money.

UFC 61 Bitter Rivals: I'll save you the suspense here because there isn't a whole lot to highlight, but there is reason to rant. Arlovski loses the decision in this rematch to Tim Sylvia largely because he just didn't do enough to win it. He ate a few shots from Sylvia in each round. Early on, it looks like Arlovski plans to use a strategy of blasting Sylvia's legs with inside and outside kicks, but he seemed to abandon the strategy at some point in round three. Bad decision, because more than once Sylvia looked like he was having trouble walking. Rather than sticking with the leg kicks, Arlovski just keeps going for the overhand right, the same punch he's used to put Sylvia down before. He never connects though, and in the process of repeatedly going for the same punch, he gets tagged by Sylvia a lot. By the end of round five, the crowd is extremely unhappy as neither fighter is very aggressive. The decision goes to Sylvia, and I think rightly so, but arguably as much by default as anything else.

What you had in this fight was two fighters fighting not to lose instead of going for the win. Neither wanted to risk eating a big shot like they had in the past. Neither ever even tried to take the other down. Neither pressed an advantage when they gained one. Both guys swung for the fences from time to time, but not effectively. What flurries there were all seemed too short, but in the end neither guy was willing to take a risk. I've never seen Arlovski look intimidated, but he sure did in this one. Sylvia looked like his usual self, with decent looks here and there but little in the way of serious aggression. Tonight however, with Arlovski fighting like he did, it was enough.One other note: During the fight, some of the crowd chanted "USA" which I thought was a little odd. Arlovski trains in the U.S. and is hardly the protopical Soviet villain (if such a thing even exists anymore).

Fight Record - 23-3-0

03-03-2007 - Lost to Randy Couture, UFC 68, Unanimous Decision
11-18-2006 - Defeats Jeff Monson, UFC 65, Unanimous Decision
07-08-2006 - Defeats Andrei Arlovski UFC 61, Unanimous Decision
04-15-2006 - Defeats Andrei Arlovski, UFC 59, KO, Round 1, 2:43, Regains HW UFC Belt
01-16-2006 - Defeats Assuerio Silva, Ultimate Fight Night 3, Unanimous Decision
08-20-2005 - Defeats Tra Telligmen UFC 50, TKO Round 1, 4:59
05-21-2005 - Defeats Mike Block, IFC, TKO Round 1, 4:59
02-05-2005 - Loses Title shot, HW belt to Andrei Arlovski, UFC 51, Submission Rd 1, 0:47.
12-12-2004 - Defeats Wes Sims, SuperBrawl 38, TKO Round 1, 1:32
06-19-2004 - Loses UFC HW title to Frank Mir, Submission Round 1, 0:50
09-26-2003 - Defeats Gan McGee, UFC 44, TKO Round 1, 1:54, Fails drug test, loses belt.
02-28-2003 - Defeats Ricco Rodriguez, UFC 41 TKO, Round 1, 3:09, Won UFC HW belt.
09-27-2002 - Defeats Wesley Correira, UFC 39, TKO Round 2, 1:43
07-27-2002 - Defeats Jeff Gerlick, EC 48, KO Round 1, 3:17
04-27-2002 - Defeats Mike Whitehead, SB 24 ROTH 2, TKO Round 1, 2:38
04-27-2002 - Defeats Jason Lambert, SB 24 ROTH 2, TKO Round 2, 4:13
04-27-2002 - Defeats Boyd Ballard, SB 24 ROTH 2, KO Round 1, 3:21
04-26-2002 - Defeats Mike Whitehead, SB 24 ROTC 1, TKO Round 1, 3:46
03-16-2002 - Defeats Matt Fremmbling, EC 47, Decision
03-16-2002 - Defeats Gino De La Cruz, EC 47, TKO Round 1, 0:43
02-16-2002 - Defeats Ernest Henderson, EC 46, TKO Round 1, 0:36
11-17-2001 - Defeats Greg Wikan, EC Trials, Submission Round 3, 2:20
08-24-2001 - Defeats Ben Rothwell, EC 42, Decision
06-02-2001 - Defeats Greg Wikan, UW-UFM, TKO(Towel) Round 1, 5:00
04-07-2001 - Defeats Gabe Beauperthy, GC 3, Submission Round 2, 4:16
01-19-2001 - Defeats Randy Durant, IFC - BG 2001, KO Round 1, 2:05

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