Author: Anton Tabuena

Tim Sylvia is now 47-years-old.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia retired back in 2015, after failing to get licensed by the athletic commission due to an MRI issue.

“They said that I’ve received enough damage over 16 years,” Sylvia said when he announced his retirement.

If Sylvia’s manager saying his MRI showed “damage from blunt force trauma” back in 2015 isn’t concerning enough, the former UFC champion is unfortunately signing on for more head trauma eight years later.

Sylvia, who is now 47-years-old, isn’t unretiring for an MMA contest either. According to a recent announcement, Sylvia has signed signed a “multi-fight” deal for slap fights, where defense isn’t allowed and head trauma can almost be guaranteed.

Sylvia has joined SlapFIGHT, which is another slap promotion, different from Dana White’s Power Slap league. The former MMA champion will face a guy called “Bulldozer.”

Sylvia was already badly out of shape in 2015, where he reportedly ballooned to 371 lbs during his last weigh-in. Sylvia has been inactive since retirement, but SlapFIGHT organizers are spinning it as a good thing, touting that the match “promises fireworks” because the pair has a “combined weight of over 650 pounds.”

With the serious dangers of slap fighting and its unimpeded head strikes, many are already reacting to the news with real concern for the former UFC champion. Sylvia has since responded, claiming he is healthy enough to compete and that “I am not doing it for the money.”

Sylvia’s long term manager Monte Cox detailed the health issues shown on the MRI results back in 2015, when the former UFC champion couldn’t be licensed.

“Basically what they’re saying is there’s damage from blunt force trauma,” Cox said almost eight years ago. “He’s got damage there. Does it affect his everyday life? Not so far. Not that he can tell — but it’s certainly something to pay attention to.”

“I think it’s the end. He had gotten to a point where his body, through all the wars, just wasn’t able to get in the kind of shape he used to. Obviously, you could see that in his weight. He just can’t get into competitive form. I think [retirement] is good. With this MRI, why go on, when you’re only getting paid a fraction of what you’re worth?”

Sylvia now claims those statements about his MRI were “taken out of context.” He says there is “nothing wrong with my brain” and it “looks just like any other fighter competing that long.”

Sylvia has 42 pro MMA bouts to his name after making his debut 22 years ago. He went winless in his final four bouts, with his last victory coming against journeyman Randy Smith 11 years ago.

Colin Oyama says he even threw a water bottle in the cage to try and stop the fight. Vazquez is now dealing with “possible fractures” and ligament damage.

The Fury FC 76 main event went viral this weekend, with referee Frank Collazo being in the middle of one of the worst stoppages in MMA history.

DWCS veteran Edgar Chairez locked in a triangle choke that put his opponent Gianni Vazquez to sleep, but despite the commentators and other people cageside screaming and pointing it out, the official allowed the fight to continue. Referee Frank Collazo let an unconscious fighter get choked for about 20 seconds, and then allowed the still unconscious fighter to get armbarred for another 20 seconds until he woke up to an injured arm and tapped.

After the horrific scene, commission spokesperson from the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation released a generic statement.

“TDLR is aware of concerns about the officiating in one of last night’s fights. All TDLR officials receive ongoing training and we monitor each fight for consistency in officiating,” their statement read. “Fight officials for each competition are always selected in conjunction with promoters.”

Seemingly unhappy with some of the weight being put on them, Fury FC also followed up with their own statement and distanced themselves from the idea that they “select refs for our shows.”

“It is the referee’s job to protect the fighter when the fighter cannot protect him or herself. In last night’s main event, the referee failed to do this. While the job of a referee is one of the hardest to do in this sport, the need for proper and continued training would help to alleviate things like this incident,” Fury FC officials wrote on social media.

“We do not hire, train, or select refs for our shows, but we would be more than willing to lead a revamp and overhaul of the reffing and judging selection and training process.”

During the broadcast, both commentators were heard screaming at referee Collazo to stop the fight, with them also stating that the cageside physician was also doing the same. Apparently, Vazquez’s corner was also among those trying to stop the fight.

According to the veteran MMA coach Colin Oyama, a commission inspector blocked his repeated attempts to have the fight stopped. He says instead of just throwing the towel to get a corner stoppage, he even threw in a water bottle, but his efforts went ignored.

“This ref needs to lose his job. And also the idiot inspector in my corner who refused to stop the fight even after I asked him to intervene and told him that my guy was out. Because of the stupidity of these two, my fighter may have possible fractures in his elbow joint according to the ER that we went to,” Oyama wrote on social media.

“It’s always funny how Athletic commissions are always warning us to act accordingly and show them the respect that they deserve 3? Respect? The only thing these two commission guys deserve is to get fired. I had to watch my kid get his arm snapped off, while neither of you did a damn thing, hell I even threw a damn water bottle in there to try and stop the fight. Just because you work for the athletic commission doesnt mean you are above reproach. You both need to be held accountable for your stupidity.”

Vazquez also confirmed being diagnosed with a “potential fracture” and “some ligaments damaged” in his statement from social media.

Combat Sports lawyer Erik Magraken also pointed out how corner stoppages are technically a foul under Texas rules, but inspectors are supposed to be the ones that stop the contest.

Oyama called for the referee and inspector to get fired, after their “stupidity” caused a serious and avoidable elbow injury to Vazquez.

If it’s true that the cornermen and ringside physician were all trying to stop the contest, but the referee and inspector still failed to do their jobs, then the commission truly has a lot of errors to be accountable for. It remains to be seen if they’ll actually act and take responsibility though.

Frank Collazo was responsible for one of the worst stoppages in MMA history.

Headlining Fury FC 76 was a bout between Edgar Chairez and Gianni Vazquez at flyweight. DWCS vet Chairez took home a quality victory to improve to 9-4, but it was the horrible and negligent officiating from referee Frank Collazo that stole all the attention.

In the fourth stanza of their main event bout, Vasquez got caught in a triangle choke and seemed to go limp and unconscious at the 3:34 mark of the round. Instead of stopping the fight and awarding Chairez the victory, the referee dangerously just allowed him to continue getting choked for a full 20 seconds. Everyone in the arena seemed to know he was out, with commentators and other people ringside just screaming “he’s out!!” over and over, but the referee just ignored them.

With the fight disturbingly not being called off, Chairez just decided to switch to an armbar, which the referee insanely allows him to apply to a clearly unconscious fighter. Everyone started screaming “Frank, he’s done! He’s done!” but referee Collazo just let it all continue. Vasquez eventually seemed to slowly regain consciousness right as his arm is being completely bent the other way, but guess what… the referee still doesn’t stop it!

“What are you doing?!? It’s done!!!” the commentators repeatedly screamed at the referee.

A seemingly confused Vasquez looked to have tapped with his leg as well as he slowly regained consciousness, but the referee still let it continue longer. A few more seconds and Vasquez uses his arm to tap again, and only then did the grossly incompetent referee to stop the contest.

To sum it up, referee Frank Collazo let an obviously unconscious fighter to get choked for 20 seconds, and then allowed the still unconscious fighter to get armbarred and injured for another 20 seconds.

Watch the seriously dangerous and disturbing scene produced by incompetent and irresponsible officiating from Collazo, courtesy of Caposa.

According to the commentators, the ringside physician was also screaming from outside the cage asking the referee to stop the fight.

Vasquez corner should’ve stepped in as well, but the brunt of the blame easily falls on the negligence Collazo showed as the referee in charge. The stoppage was about 40 seconds too late. And despite everyone repeatedly screaming at him, it was only when Vasquez fully woke up and was able to tap — possibly twice — due to his already injured arm that Collazo stopped the fight.

He not only unnecessarily caused an arm injury, he also risked serious health issues and death with the lack of blood to the brain for that long. It’s easily one of the worst officiating in MMA history, and Collazo clearly should not be able to keep his job after this.

“It’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen in my life in MMA,” the broadcast booth is heard saying about the officiating. “I’m still stunned right now. My heart is still beating (fast), I thought we were about to see the something very horrible.”

Fortunately, Vasquez seemed to have avoided the worst as he was able to regain consciousness and eventually stand up on his own accord during the official decision. His arm seems to have been badly injured though, despite it being a completely avoidable situation.

Frank Collazo was responsible for one of the worst stoppages in MMA history.

Headlining Fury FC 76 was a bout between Edgar Chairez and Gianni Vazquez at flyweight. DWCS vet Chairez took home a quality victory to improve to 9-4, but it was the horrible and negligent officiating from referee Frank Collazo that stole all the attention.

In the fourth stanza of their main event bout, Vasquez got caught in a triangle choke and seemed to go limp and unconscious at the 3:34 mark of the round. Instead of stopping the fight and awarding Chairez the victory, the referee dangerously just allowed him to continue getting choked for a full 20 seconds. Everyone in the arena seemed to know he was out, with commentators and other people ringside just screaming “he’s out!!” over and over, but the referee just ignored them.

With the fight disturbingly not being called off, Chairez just decided to switch to an armbar, which the referee insanely allows him to apply to a clearly unconscious fighter. Everyone started screaming “Frank, he’s done! He’s done!” but referee Collazo just let it all continue. Vasquez eventually seemed to slowly regain consciousness right as his arm is being completely bent the other way, but guess what… the referee still doesn’t stop it!

“What are you doing?!? It’s done!!!” the commentators repeatedly screamed at the referee.

A seemingly confused Vasquez looked to have tapped with his leg as well as he slowly regained consciousness, but the referee still let it continue longer. A few more seconds and Vasquez uses his arm to tap again, and only then did the grossly incompetent referee to stop the contest.

To sum it up, referee Frank Collazo let an obviously unconscious fighter to get choked for 20 seconds, and then allowed the still unconscious fighter to get armbarred and injured for another 20 seconds.

Watch the seriously dangerous and disturbing scene produced by incompetent and irresponsible officiating from Collazo, courtesy of Caposa.

According to the commentators, the ringside physician was also screaming from outside the cage asking the referee to stop the fight.

Vasquez corner should’ve stepped in as well, but the brunt of the blame easily falls on the negligence Collazo showed as the referee in charge. The stoppage was about 40 seconds too late. And despite everyone repeatedly screaming at him, it was only when Vasquez fully woke up and was able to tap — possibly twice — due to his already injured arm that Collazo stopped the fight.

He not only unnecessarily caused an arm injury, he also risked serious health issues and death with the lack of blood to the brain for that long. It’s easily one of the worst officiating in MMA history, and Collazo clearly should not be able to keep his job after this.

“It’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve seen in my life in MMA,” the broadcast booth is heard saying about the officiating. “I’m still stunned right now. My heart is still beating (fast), I thought we were about to see the something very horrible.”

Fortunately, Vasquez seemed to have avoided the worst as he was able to regain consciousness and eventually stand up on his own accord during the official decision. His arm seems to have been badly injured though, despite it being a completely avoidable situation.

Narrator: He was.

When it comes to interesting albeit pointless “GOAT” debates in sports, people’s criteria are vastly different so there’s just a multitude of things that can be validly argued. I’m not sure we can say the same about Joe Rogan’s recent head-scratching claims about Georges St-Pierre though.

The longtime UFC commentator argued that mixed martial arts has already evolved so much that the legendary two-division champion isn’t even on the same level of Kamaru Usman’s recent opponents.

“I just think the level of competition he faced is higher. GSP was so good he raised the bar,” Rogan said on his podcast (via BJPenn.com). “But, you look at GSP’s victories. He beat some very good guys, but I think the guys Kamaru Usman beat — Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Tyron Woodley — I think they are better.”

Even his country singer guest in Luke Combs thought this claim was worth questioning. But as the musician checked if he really believed that Masvidal is better than prime GSP, Rogan only doubled down with a bizarre response.

“Yeah,” Rogan responded. “I think if Masvidal was around at that time he would be dangerous for everybody, I think he is on another level. I think everyone is on another level.

“The Masvidal that knocked out Ben Askren, that was one of the craftiest moves that anyone has ever done. He went sideways and ran straight at him and Askren’s instincts kicked in and he kneed him into the dark lands. Just one shot, boom, into the shadow realm. Masvidal, I mean he knocked out Yves Edwards with a f—g head kick back in the day. He is a f—g assassin. Masvidal is a gangster.”

MMA as a whole is evolving and getting better, but that’s probably the only thing Rogan is right about here. No disrespect to Masvidal, who has always been a fun and talented fighter, but Rogan’s claims are hilariously false and goes way beyond recency bias.

The most obvious thing to point out is that Masvidal was around at that time, and if anyone was “better” and “on another level,” it’s certainly not him.

St-Pierre and Masvidal made their MMA debuts just a year apart in 2002 and 2003. They’ve also had roughly the same amount of fights (23 and 26) by 2010, but while St-Pierre was already on his ninth UFC title fight, Masvidal was getting TKO’d by Rodrigo Damm in Sengoku and getting inverted triangled by Toby Imada in Bellator.

St-Pierre and Masvidal then spent three years together under Zuffa, where one was adding to his incredible championship resume, and the other was losing to the likes of Gilbert Melendez and Rustam Khabilov.

Seemingly proving that he was way ahead of his time, St-Pierre also returned to competition four years later and won the belt on a higher division.

And if a five second KO win is an argument for Masvidal, it’s worth pointing out how Askren — who spent years as Bellator champ during GSP’s reign — is the antithesis of a “modern MMA fighter.” He’s a great wrestler, but the complete absence of striking ability was more of a throwback to MMA before GSP’s championship run even.

GSP and Masvidal are close in age and debuts, with a similar amount of fights during well over a decade of career overlap between them. He deserves praise for longevity and good branding after his iconic KO, but Masvidal definitely isn’t some “new age fighter.” They’re both from the same era, with Masvidal being around during GSP’s entire title reign.

I understand being more detached from MMA since getting that $100M Spotify deal, but Rogan should know this. He was literally there when it all happened.

Narrator: He was.

When it comes to interesting albeit pointless “GOAT” debates in sports, people’s criteria are vastly different so there’s just a multitude of things that can be validly argued. I’m not sure we can say the same about Joe Rogan’s recent head-scratching claims about Georges St-Pierre though.

The longtime UFC commentator argued that mixed martial arts has already evolved so much that the legendary two-division champion isn’t even on the same level of Kamaru Usman’s recent opponents.

“I just think the level of competition he faced is higher. GSP was so good he raised the bar,” Rogan said on his podcast (via BJPenn.com). “But, you look at GSP’s victories. He beat some very good guys, but I think the guys Kamaru Usman beat — Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal, Tyron Woodley — I think they are better.”

Even his country singer guest in Luke Combs thought this claim was worth questioning. But as the musician checked if he really believed that Masvidal is better than prime GSP, Rogan only doubled down with a bizarre response.

“Yeah,” Rogan responded. “I think if Masvidal was around at that time he would be dangerous for everybody, I think he is on another level. I think everyone is on another level.

“The Masvidal that knocked out Ben Askren, that was one of the craftiest moves that anyone has ever done. He went sideways and ran straight at him and Askren’s instincts kicked in and he kneed him into the dark lands. Just one shot, boom, into the shadow realm. Masvidal, I mean he knocked out Yves Edwards with a f—g head kick back in the day. He is a f—g assassin. Masvidal is a gangster.”

MMA as a whole is evolving and getting better, but that’s probably the only thing Rogan is right about here. No disrespect to Masvidal, who has always been a fun and talented fighter, but Rogan’s claims are hilariously false and goes way beyond recency bias.

The most obvious thing to point out is that Masvidal was around at that time, and if anyone was “better” and “on another level,” it’s certainly not him.

St-Pierre and Masvidal made their MMA debuts just a year apart in 2002 and 2003. They’ve also had roughly the same amount of fights (23 and 26) by 2010, but while St-Pierre was already on his ninth UFC title fight, Masvidal was getting TKO’d by Rodrigo Damm in Sengoku and getting inverted triangled by Toby Imada in Bellator.

St-Pierre and Masvidal then spent three years together under Zuffa, where one was adding to his incredible championship resume, and the other was losing to the likes of Gilbert Melendez and Rustam Khabilov.

Seemingly proving that he was way ahead of his time, St-Pierre also returned to competition four years later and won the belt on a higher division.

And if a five second KO win is an argument for Masvidal, it’s worth pointing out how Askren — who spent years as Bellator champ during GSP’s reign — is the antithesis of a “modern MMA fighter.” He’s a great wrestler, but the complete absence of striking ability was more of a throwback to MMA before GSP’s championship run even.

GSP and Masvidal are close in age and debuts, with a similar amount of fights during well over a decade of career overlap between them. He deserves praise for longevity and good branding after his iconic KO, but Masvidal definitely isn’t some “new age fighter.” They’re both from the same era, with Masvidal being around during GSP’s entire title reign.

I understand being more detached from MMA since getting that $100M Spotify deal, but Rogan should know this. He was literally there when it all happened.