Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia wants back inside the Octagon.
Sylvia said Monday on The MMA Hour that he is desperate to prove that he belongs in the UFC heavyweight division, and that he’d gladly accept whatever contract the UFC offered him.
“Have me come in, put me against Stefan Struve, Cheick Kongo, (Matt) Mitrione,” Sylvia said. “I’ll fight anybody. I don’t care. And see if I can hang with them. If I can’t, I tell you what, it’s going to be a hell of a fight.”
Sylvia said he invested the $800,000 he made for his loss to Fedor Emelianenko and is doing fine financially, and that now he just wants to prove himself in the UFC. In fact, Sylvia said he would accept a contract that pays him only $5,000 to show up and another $5,000 to win, which is as low as a UFC contract gets. For that matter, Sylvia said he’d be willing to fight for free.
“If the UFC comes to me with an offer for $5,000 and $5,000 I would take it,” Sylvia said. “I know that’s very entry level money but I’d have an opportunity to win Knockout of the Night and make $50,000.”
Sylvia said he disagrees with those who say the UFC heavyweight division is leaps and bounds better now than it was when he was the champion. Sylvia acknowledged that there are a handful of great heavyweights whom he’d struggle to beat, but he said he thinks he would defeat most of the UFC’s top heavyweights.
“I don’t agree with any of that. Right now you have three studs: Alistair, Junior and Cain, and the rest are OK,” Sylvia said. “There’s also Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, but besides the Top 5, if you put me in there I’ll beat them all.”
“I just want to know why, how come the fans don’t like me,” he said. “Basically it’s because they don’t know me.”
And the best way for the fans to get to know Sylvia is for the UFC to promote him again. He’ll be waiting by the phone.