Tim Sylvia, in the early days of UFC was a force to be reckoned with. At that time, there were few fighters with his size. Sylvia fought more than 40 professional fights during his MMA career. After losing to Ruslan Magiomedov in 2013, he announced his retirement. He returned to Combat Sports recently and competed in a slap fighting contest.
Tim Sylvia debuted in slapfighting at SlapFight Championship 25 in Oklahoma. Sylvia defeated a man called “The Bouncer” by demonstrating his incredible power with his slap. The referee ruled the fight over because the opponent was unable to get up.
Tim Sylvia fought with some of the top Heavyweight fighters in the 2000s. He won notable fights against Andrei Arlovski and Ricco Rodrigo. Sylvia won the UFC Heavyweight Championship twice during his career. In UFC 77 he won by unanimous decision over former ONE Heavyweight Champion Brandon Vera.
During his prime, Sylvia only lost to heavyweight fighters like Randy Couture Frank Mir Fedor Emiralanenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Sylvia has disagreed over the years with Dana White regarding potential mistreatment of an injury. He also voiced his desire to receive compensation for his healthcare.
Watch: Nate Diaz beats Logan Paul lookalike in New Orleans Street fight
Tim Sylvia won 22 knockouts during his professional career
American fighter Tim Sylvia is a knockout-machine
Sylvia stood at 6 ft. 8 inches tall, and was the largest Heavyweight in MMA before Stefan Struve. Sylvia’s size and 80-inch reach gave her a huge advantage. In his MMA, he used that advantage to knock out his opponents.
In 2001, he began his MMA career with a TKO victory over Randy Durant. Sylvia entered the UFC with a 13-0 track record. He knocked nine of his opponents out. The company gave him the opportunity to compete for UFC’s heavyweight title after just one fight. He won the title by TKO over Ricco Rodrigo.
He won 13 more stoppages in his career. Twenty-two of his 31 victories inside the cage were knockouts. Sylvia, who retired in 2013 following a series of losses, recently returned to the ring at a Slap Fighting competition.
