10 June 2022
Tim Sylvia is a former mixed martial artist (MMA), professional and professional wrestler. He was a two time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He retired from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 2008.
Table of Contents
Post UFC
After he retired, Sylvia went on to sign for Adrenaline MMA, a company that used to go by the name of M-1 Global. His contract lasted for two years and allowed him to fight for other companies as well as Adrenaline MMA also. After, he was asked to fight against Fedor Emelianenko the the event Afflication: Banned. The date of the fight was 19 July 2008, where Emelianenko beat Sylvia by submission after only 26 seconds.
The next year, Sylvia was set to fight against Ray Mercer, the world heavyweight boxing champion, in the main event taking place at the Adrenaline MMA III event on 30 May 2009. The venue for the fight was to be the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort, which is in Atlantic City. However, this had to be changed to Birmingham Jefferson’s Civic Center in Alabama, being postponed until 13 June that year. The rules also later were changed to fall under MMA fight rules. Sylvia was defeated by Emelianenko by a knockout in the first round. At the time, Sylvia weighed in at over 310 pounds for the fight.
Affliction closed down and Sylvia went on to beat Jason Riley at the Adrenaline IV main event, taking place on 18 September 2009 in Iowa state. Sylvia broke his hand during the first round of the fight. He later fought against Wes Sims in a rematch on 20 March in Ohio, in Nova Scotia in Canada. The fight was for the title of the IFC Superheavyweight champion.
Sylvia also fought against Mariusz Pudzianowski, five times World’s Strongest Man winner, at Moosin: God of Martial Arts on 21 May 2010. Sylvia won the fight through submission.
Afterwards, he defeated Paul Buentello with an uppercut to knock him out at the Powerhouse World Promotions: War on the Mainland. This was on 14 August 2010. He was to defend his title against Pedro Rizzo after Rizzo entered the ring during his interview after winning the fight against Buentello. Unfortunately, the fight fell through and never progressed. Later, on 11 December that year, Sylvia won against Vince Lucero in a fight that took place at the CFX/Extreme Challenge event.
ONE Fighting Championship
In July 2012, Sylvia signed a contract with ONE Championship promotion based in Asia. His first fight as part of the organization was set to take place against Andrei Arlovski, for the fourth time the two would fight against each other throughout their careers. The fight took place at the Pride of a Nation event held by ONE Championship in Manila, Philippines, on 31 August 2012. The fight against Arlovski was abandoned due to an illegal kick made by Sylvia’s opponent.
At the ONE FC: Rise to Power event on 31 May 2013, Sylvia lost against Tony Johnson who beat the fighter in Round 3.
Retirement
Sylvia was meant to fight against Juliano Coutinho at the Reality Fighting event that was set to take place on 3 January 2015. He wasn’t deemed to be medically fit for the fight by the Mohegan Athletic Unit. The fight therefore couldn’t go ahead. Sylvia’s manager, Monte Cox, announced that the reason for the cancellation was because of the age of Sylvia and frequent medications he had to take before the fight.
Professional Wrestling Career
In 2010, Sylvia entered the ring to start his professional wrestling career. He was beaten on that night on 25 September due to submission by his opponent Josh Barnett. Barnett was also an MMA fighter.
On Twitter, a campaign was started to entice Dixie Carter, the president of Total Non stop Action Wrestling, to give Sylvia a contract. This would enable Sylvia to become part of the TNA ranks. Sylvia in turn retweeted this to his fans, and so encouraged the progression of the campaign.
Personal Life
Sylvia has one son called Maverick, whom he had to a previous partner that he’s no longer with. Since 2o10, Sylvia has been working part-time for the police service as a police officer. His contract is to work just one day per month.
