Fighter: Tim Sylvia Record: 25-2-0 Division: UFC Heavyweight Age:30 Fighting Out Of: Davenport, Iowa
Tim Sylvia is primarily a striker, known for his impressive stand-up. He also has solid takedown defense.
Wikipedia Information: Tim Sylvia was born March 5th, 1976 in the small town of Eastbrook, Maine. He joined a Karate school as a child, and began wrestling in high school. After graduation, Tim worked construction, hanging sheetrock, and painting houses. During this time he decided to take up boxing and grappling, and after training for a year, Tim entered his first grappling contest, taking first place in his division. Soon after, he got the oppertunity to fight in a Rhode Island NHB amateur event, in which he knocked out his opponent in 17 seconds. His original nickname was "The Grizzly Bear."
A long time UFC fan, Tim and some friends attended UFC 28 in Atlantic City, NJ in 2000. Arriving early at the arena, they went inside, and happened to see Pat Miletich. Pat asked Tim "You are a big son of a bitch! Do you fight?", to which Tim replied "A little, but I have a hard time finding training partners and getting fights." Pat simply said "Come to Iowa", and in late 2000, Tim sold all of his belongings and moved to Bettendorf, Iowa, to train with Team Miletich.
Tim Sylvia made his professional MMA debut in 2001 fighting for the IFC. He would go on to rack up 13 straight wins with 10 knockouts in organizations such as SuperBrawl, and Extreme Challenge. In 2002, Tim signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and won a brutal victory over Cabbage Correira at UFC 39. Tim would go on to dominate Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 41, winning his first UFC Heavyweight Championship, and take another quick victory over Gan McGee at UFC 44. After the fight with McGee, however, Sylvia tested positive for the banned substance Stanozolol, a form of anabolic steroids. He was stripped of his title and handed a suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
At UFC 48 in June 2004, Sylvia returned to face Frank Mir for the vacant UFC Heavyweight championship. Early on in the fight, Mir trapped Sylvia's right arm in an armbar submission attempt. As Sylvia stood up to slam him, Frank was able to twist his arm and complete the armbar. Sylvia's radius snapped about three inches below his elbow, and referee Herb Dean immediately stopped the fight and declared Sylvia unable to continue. Sylvia took exception to this decision and repeatedly claimed his arm wasn't broken, even touching it and moving it around to demonstrate. He demanded the match be restarted, but the judges and UFC President Dana White, acting on the doctor's opinion and in the interests of Sylvia's health, officially ended the fight and Mir was given the title. Sylvia was taken to a local hospital, where an x-ray revealed that his arm was broken, Sylvia took several months off to recuperate.
Six months after his loss to Frank Mir, Tim Sylvia returned (with a titanium plate in his forearm) to MMA with a quick victory over Wes Sims at SuperBrawl 38. In February of 2005, Sylvia made his return to the UFC, taking on champion Andrei Arlovski. In a fight that only lasted :47 seconds, Tim was caught in an achillies leg lock, and tapped to avoid another serious injury. In May of that same year, Tim defeated Mike Block in the IFC by TKO, then went on to face MMA veteran Tra Telligman at UFC 54. With one second left in the first round, Tim landed a devistating high kick, which knocked Tra out completely. Tim soon made his television debut, fighting Assuerio Silva on Spike TV's Ultimate Fight Night Live 3, pulling out a decision victory after three rounds.
At UFC 59, Tim was finally awarded his rematch with champion Andrei Arlovski. In an extremly exciting fight, Tim was knocked down by Arlovski's heavy hands, only to immediately stand up, and in turn knock Arlovski out within 10 seconds, once again taking the title of UFC Heavyweight Champion. Arlovski and Sylvia are set to face off again for the rubber match, at UFC 61 on July 8th.
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