Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) legends and former champions are getting involved with slap-fighting.
Amongst all the combat sports action that took place this past weekend, one of the wackier happenings was the return of two-time UFC Heavyweight titleholder, Tim Sylvia. Don’t worry, the 47-year-old “Maine-Iac” didn’t compete in mixed martial arts (MMA) for the first time since 2013 … Instead, he debuted in slap-fighting, which is arguably a worse idea.
Sylvia managed to pull off the win, however, knocking out “The Bouncer” and becoming the new SlapFIGHT Championship Heavyweight champion (watch highlights). Acting as “The Bouncer’s” “catcher” for the slap-off was Sylvia’s fellow former UFC champion, Mark Coleman, 58, who teased an impending encounter.
“SlapFight tonight on Fire TV [hand emoji],” Coleman said on Instagram. “@timsylviamma1 makes his debut in Oklahoma City the pressure is on this is very serious very real tons of courage it ain’t no@b—ch slap . If Tim wins I have agreed to fight him next . Sober is cool HammerHouse4Life”
“Lol why you got to let people think we are slapping each other man,” Sylvia responded in the comments after the event. “That is not happening, you are a good buddy man. And you are a excellent catcher. Let’s keep it that way.”
In their respective MMA careers, Sylvia and Coleman never wound up crossing paths as Sylvia’s peak years saw him floating around the UFC title while Coleman fought over in PRIDE Fighting Championship. “The Hammer” eventually returned to the Octagon in 2009 just one year after Sylvia had left the promotion. Coleman last fought in Feb. 2010, suffering defeat to Randy Couture via a second-round rear-naked choke submission in the main event of UFC 109. He recently celebrated two years of sobriety as indicated at the end of his post.