Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion. He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight. While he is best known for competing in the UFC, Sylvia has also fought for Affliction, the International Fighting Championships (IFC), and ONE FC.
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Background
Sylvia was born and raised in Ellsworth, Maine, attending Ellsworth High School and graduating in 1992. He joined a karate school as a child, and began wrestling in high school. After graduation, he worked construction, community gardening, hanging sheet rock, as a bouncer, and painting houses. After high school, he played semi-pro football for three years before becoming interested in MMA, and began to train with Marcus Davis, a fellow bouncer. During this time Sylvia decided to take up boxing and grappling. After training for a year, and winning grappling tournaments, he got the opportunity to fight in a Rhode Island no holds barred amateur event, in which he knocked out his opponent in 17 seconds.
A longtime UFC fan, Sylvia and some friends attended UFC 28 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2000. In late 2000 Sylvia sold all of his belongings and moved to Bettendorf, Iowa, to train with Team Miletich which had members such as former UFC champions Matt Hughes and Jens Pulver. Sylvia was promoted to a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on October 31, 2011.
Mixed martial arts career
Early professional career
Sylvia made his professional MMA debut in 2001 fighting for the IFC. He went on to rack up thirteen consecutive wins with ten knockouts in organizations such as the Hawaii-based SuperBrawl, and Extreme Challenge.
Ultimate Fighting Championship
In 2002, Sylvia signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and won a TKO victory over Wesley "Cabbage" Correira at UFC 39 when Correira's corner threw in the towel. Sylvia then went on to defeat Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 41, winning the UFC heavyweight championship for the first time. Soon after Sylvia defended his title with another quick victory over Gan McGee at UFC 44.
After the fight with McGee, Sylvia tested positive for the banned substance Stanozolol. He voluntarily forfeited his title and was handed a six-month suspension, and fined $10,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC). He later commented that the steroid usage was for shedding excess weight. Sylvia apologized and made no effort to claim innocence.
At UFC 48 in June 2004, Sylvia returned to face Frank Mir for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship; he lost. Early on in the fight Mir trapped Sylvia's right arm in an armbar submission attempt. As Sylvia tried to escape the hold, Sylvia's right radius bone snapped about three inches below his elbow. Referee Herb Dean immediately stopped the fight and declared Sylvia unable to continue. Sylvia took exception to the decision and repeatedly claimed his arm was not broken (though the break could be explicitly seen on the slow-motion replay of the fight), even touching it and moving it around to demonstrate. Sylvia was taken to a local hospital where an x-ray revealed that his arm was in fact broken; he then took several months off to recuperate. Afterward, Sylvia said he was glad the referee stopped the fight, thereby saving his arm from further damage.
Six months after his loss to Frank Mir, Sylvia returned (a titanium plate had been attached to his forearm) to the UFC in February 2005, taking on Andrei Arlovski to crown an interim UFC heavyweight champion as Mir, while still the nominal UFC champion, had suffered numerous injuries from a motorcycle accident that left him unable to defend his title. Sylvia was knocked to the ground by an overhand right punch, and while on the ground was caught in an Achilles lock and submitted.
In May 2005, Sylvia 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, Sylvia landed a left head kick which knocked out Telligman. Sylvia made his cable television debut next, fighting Assuério Silva at Ultimate Fight Night 3 on Spike TV, winning a unanimous decision after three rounds in a match that was intended to decide the next number one contender.
Post-UFC
On March 28, 2008, Sylvia signed with Adrenaline MMA, formerly M-1 Global, to a two-year contract that allowed him to fight for other organizations while under contract with Adrenaline. A few weeks later he was offered to fight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction Clothing's inaugural event Affliction: Banned. The fight took place on July 19, 2008, and saw the Russian dropping Sylvia and taking his back before securing a rear naked choke, forcing Sylvia to submit at 0:36 of the first round.
On February 25, 2009, Sylvia's manager (and Adrenaline MMA CEO) Monte Cox announced that Sylvia would face former boxing world heavyweight champion and 1988 Olympic gold medalist Ray Mercer in a boxing main event at Adrenaline MMA III on May 30, 2009, at the Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City. However, after the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board refused to sanction the fight, the event was moved to Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama, and rescheduled to June 13. Only days before the bout, it was changed to be contested under MMA rules, again because of sanctioning problems. When they finally met Sylvia initiated with a low kick, but Mercer knocked Sylvia out with a single punch nine seconds into the first round. Sylvia weighed in at 310.6 pounds for the Super Heavyweight fight.
Before his bout with Mercer, Sylvia was scheduled to face Paul Buentello at Affliction: Trilogy. But after the devastating KO loss, Cox and Affliction decided it would be best for Sylvia to sit out the next few months, because of his recent losses.
After Affliction folded, Sylvia defeated Jason Riley via TKO (punches) 2:32 into the first round at the Adrenaline IV main event on September 18, 2009, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was later revealed through Sherdog.com that Sylvia broke his right hand about a minute and a half into his fight with Riley, spoiling a debut with the Japanese promotion Dream, planned for October 25.
Sylvia's next fight was expected to be a rematch with The Ultimate Fighter alumni Wes Sims on March, 20th in Ohio. However, the Ohio State Athletic Commission refused to sanction the bout, saying that the fight was "non-competitive", resulting in the bout being rescheduled to June 6, 2010, in Nova Scotia, Canada, for the IFC Superheavyweight title.
Titan Fighting Championship
Sylvia fought Abe Wagner at Titan Fighting Championships 16 (Sylvia replaced Todd Duffee), Sylvia weighed in at 311 pounds and was defeated 32 seconds into the first round, ending his four-fight win streak.
Fight Tour
Sylvia was originally scheduled to face Shayne Adams (1–2) on August 13 at a Fight Tour event at the Rockford Metro Centre in Rockford, Illinois. But due to a scheduling conflict with the athletic commission the event will now take place on August 20. Sylvia was then scheduled to face Brian Heden at the August 20 Fight Tour event because the Illinois Athletic Commission would not approve the fight between Adams and Sylvia. However the bout between Sylvia and Heden was later scrapped for unknown reasons and Sylvia would now face submission specialist Patrick Barrentine. Sylvia defeated Barrentine via TKO in the first round. Sylvia weighed in at 280.5 pounds for the bout, 30 pounds lighter than his previous bout against Wagner.
ProElite
Sylvia was expected to take on Pedro Rizzo at ProElite 2 on November 5, However Rizzo later pulled out of the bout due to injury.
Sylvia instead competed against German heavyweight Andreas Kraniotakes and won the fight via unanimous decision.
New England Fights
Sylvia fought against Randy Smith at NEF: Fight Night 3 on June 16 in his home state of Maine.
Sylvia defeated Smith in 12 seconds via TKO.
ONE Fighting Championship
In mid-July 2012, it was announced that Tim Sylvia had signed with the Asia-based promotion ONE Championship. The promotion quickly announced that Sylvia would face Andrei Arlovski in his debut, marking the fourth time the two fighters had faced each other.
Sylvia and Arlovski faced off at ONE Fighting Championship: Pride of a Nation on August 31, 2012, in Manila. The fight between Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski ended in a no-contest due to an illegal soccer kick by Andrei Arlovski. According to ONE FC rules at the time, soccer kicks are legal only if the referee clears the fighter to do so after determining the grounded fighter can still intelligently defend himself. Arlovski received no such clearance, the kick was deemed illegal. Four days later, One FC eliminated the clearance restriction.
On May 31, 2013, Sylvia fought Tony Johnson at ONE FC 9: Rise to Power. Sylvia lost by TKO (doctor stoppage) in 3:25 of the third round.
Inoki Genome Federation
Sylvia fought Satoshi Ishii at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye and lost by unanimous decision.
Fight Nights
Sylvia fought Dagestan prospect Ruslan Magomedov at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 13 and lost by unanimous decision.
Retirement
Sylvia was scheduled to face Juliano Coutinho at Reality Fighting on January 3, 2015, however, he was denied medical clearance by the Mohegan Athletic Unit, and as a result the fight was cancelled. Sylvia weighed in at 371 pounds for the fight. When asked why the fight was cancelled Monte Cox, Sylvia's manager, wrote on Facebook “Not 100 [percent] sure... because of his age he had to do a lot of meds at last minute,” Cox wrote. “In all he needed a stress test, MRI, EKG, eye, blood and physical." Apparently all the tests ordered by the Mohegan commission have made a significant impact on Sylvia's bank account, as he wrote on Cox's Facebook thread that he is “[$2,000] in the hole because of all the [tests] I had to do. After the cancelled fight Sylvia announced his retirement from MMA. He appeared in the cage alongside his proposed opponent and said an MRI issue prevented him from competing. “This is the end of my career,” Sylvia said at Mohegan Sun Arena, adding, “They said that I’ve received enough damage over 16 years.”
Professional wrestling career
On September 25, 2010, Sylvia made his pro wrestling debut, losing via submission to fellow mixed-martial-artist Josh Barnett, at IGF's Genome 13 event.
A grassroots Twitter campaign started on August 1, 2013, for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling president Dixie Carter to sign Sylvia and add him to the TNA ranks. Sylvia himself endorsed the campaign by re-tweeting it to his Twitter followers.
Slapfighting career
At the age of 47, Sylvia made his return to combat sports, competing at SlapFIGHT Championship 25 on April 22, 2023. Sylvia knocked out his opponent in the fifth round.
Personal life
Sylvia has a son. In 2010, Sylvia confirmed that he is a police officer in the State of Illinois on a part-time basis (one day a month).
Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts
Ultimate Fighting Championship
UFC Heavyweight Championship (Two times)
One successful title defense - First reign
Two successful title defenses - Second reign
Three successful title defenses - Overall
Tied (Randy Couture & Stipe Miocic) for most title bouts in UFC heavyweight history (9)
Fight of the Night (One time) vs. Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira
UFC Encyclopedia Awards
Knockout of the Night (Two times) vs. Ricco Rodriguez and Andrei Arlovski 1
UFC.com Awards
2005: Ranked #2 Knockout of the Year vs. Tra Telligman
2006: Ranked #3 Knockout of the Year vs. Andrei Arlovski 1 & Ranked #4 Fight of the Year vs. Andrei Arlovski 1
2007: Ranked #9 Fight of the Year vs. Randy Couture
Powerhouse World Promotions
PWP Heavyweight Championship (One time)
International Sport Karate Association
ISKA MMA Super heavyweight Championship (One time)
ICON Sport
Superbrawl Return of the Heavyweights Tournament Winner