Timothy Deane Sylvia was born on March 5,1976 and is an American retired mixed martial arts fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion.
44 Facts About Tim Sylvia
2.
Tim Sylvia has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight.
3.
Tim Sylvia was born and raised in Ellsworth, Maine, attending Ellsworth High School and graduating in 1992.
4.
Tim Sylvia joined a karate school as a child, and began wrestling in high school.
5.
In late 2000 Tim 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.
6.
Tim Sylvia was promoted to a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on October 31,2011.
7.
Tim Sylvia made his professional MMA debut in 2001 fighting for the IFC.
8.
Tim Sylvia went on to rack up thirteen consecutive wins with ten knockouts in organizations such as the Hawaii-based SuperBrawl, and Extreme Challenge.
9.
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.
10.
Tim Sylvia voluntarily forfeited his title and was handed a six-month suspension, and fined $10,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
11.
Tim Sylvia later commented that the steroid usage was for shedding excess weight.
12.
At UFC 48 in June 2004, Tim Sylvia returned to face Frank Mir for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship; he lost.
13.
Tim Sylvia took exception to the decision and repeatedly claimed his arm was not broken, even touching it and moving it around to demonstrate.
14.
Tim 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.
15.
Six months after his loss to Frank Mir, Tim Sylvia returned 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.
16.
Tim Sylvia was knocked to the ground by an overhand right punch, and while on the ground was caught in an Achilles lock and submitted.
17.
In May 2005, Tim Sylvia defeated Mike Block in the IFC by TKO, then went on to face MMA veteran Tra Telligman at UFC 54.
18.
At UFC 59, Tim Sylvia was finally awarded his rematch with the then-outright champion Andrei Arlovski.
19.
Tim Sylvia next defended his championship in a trilogy fight with Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61.
20.
Tim Sylvia utilized his reach and size advantage to win the uneventful fight by unanimous decision.
21.
On March 3,2007, Tim Sylvia fought former UFC Heavyweight and UFC Light Heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 68.
22.
On October 20,2007 at UFC 77, Tim Sylvia defeated Brandon Vera via unanimous decision.
23.
On February 2,2008 Tim Sylvia lost via guillotine choke to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 in Las Vegas for the interim heavyweight championship.
24.
Early in 2008, Tim Sylvia requested and was granted a release from his UFC contract, which still had one fight remaining on it.
25.
Tim Sylvia cited unhappiness with pay, desire to face Fedor Emelianenko, the non-exclusive contracts of other organizations, and the opportunity to fight more often as his reasons for leaving.
26.
On March 28,2008, Tim 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.
27.
Tim Sylvia weighed in at 310.6 pounds for the Super Heavyweight fight.
28.
The Sims fight was scuttled again, when it was discovered that Tim Sylvia broke his foot at Moosin.
29.
Tim Sylvia fought Abe Wagner at Titan Fighting Championships 16, Tim Sylvia weighed in at 311 pounds and was defeated 32 seconds into the first round, ending his 4 fight win streak.
30.
Tim Sylvia avoided the shots as he retreated, but once he reached the cage, Wagner landed a four-punch combination that saw his opponent slump to the canvas.
31.
Referee Jason Herzog wasted little time in rushing in to call the fight, and the decision was justified when Sylvia stumbled as he returned to his feet.
32.
However the bout between Tim Sylvia and Heden was later scrapped for unknown reasons and Tim Sylvia would now face submission specialist Patrick Barrentine.
33.
Tim Sylvia weighed in at 280.5 pounds for the bout, 30 pounds lighter than his previous bout against Wagner.
34.
Tim Sylvia instead competed against German heavyweight Andreas Kraniotakes and won the fight via unanimous decision.
35.
In mid-July 2012, it was announced that Tim Sylvia had signed with the Asia-based promotion ONE Championship.
36.
On May 31,2013 Tim Sylvia fought Tony Johnson at ONE FC 9: Rise to Power.
37.
Tim Sylvia lost by TKO in 3:25 of the third round.
38.
Tim Sylvia fought Satoshi Ishii at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye and lost by unanimous decision.
39.
Tim Sylvia fought Dagestan prospect Ruslan Magomedov at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 13 and lost by unanimous decision.
40.
Tim Sylvia was scheduled to face Juliano Coutinho at Reality Fighting on January 3,2015, However Tim Sylvia was denied medical clearance by the Mohegan Athletic Unit, and as a result the fight was cancelled.
41.
Tim Sylvia appeared in the cage alongside his proposed opponent and said an MRI issue prevented him from competing.
42.
On September 25,2010, Tim Sylvia made his pro wrestling debut, losing via submission to fellow mixed-martial-artist Josh Barnett, at IGF's Genome 13 event.
43.
At the age of 47, Tim Sylvia made his return to combat sports, competing at SlapFIGHT Championship 25 on April 22,2023.
44.
In 2010, Sylvia confirmed that he is a police officer in the State of Illinois on a part-time basis.