Dana White, according to Chris Palmquist of The Undergound and as tweeted by popular MMA journalist Ariel Helwani (see below), says that the hotly-rumored and widely-reported Tim Sylvia vs. Daniel Cormier fight is just that—a rumor.
Dana White: Big Timmay isn’t signed to Strikeforce/Zuffa — mixedmartialarts.com/news/412857/Wh…
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 21, 2012
“Never a fact unless I say it,” the UFC president was quoted stating the denial in the report.
Fans eager to see the former UFC champion Sylvia tangle with rising Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix winner Cormier have to hold their horses for the time being. For the meantime, it will be prudent to suspend their belief in the widely-reported four-fight contract that Sylvia has allegedly inked with Zuffa, and that he will be facing Cormier later this September.
Hopes ran high when White allegedly decided to give Sylvia another chance, after the latter’s highly-publicized campaign for him to be given another shot at the world’s leading MMA promotion—that he still deserves to be in its heavyweight roster.
Sylvia won the UFC heavyweight belt against Ricco Rodriguez via TKO in UFC 41 way back in 2003, then successfully defended it, also by TKO, versus Gan McGee. However, he was stripped off the title when he tested positive for stanozolol after his defense.
In 2006, he was finally allowed to reenter the UFC, and reclaimed the heavyweight title from Andrei Arlovski by TKO in the first round of UFC 59. Subsequently, he defended the title against challenger Jeff Monson by unanimous decision, but later lost it to Randy Couture.
Currently, Sylvia is on a tear, with three consecutive wins, the most recent being a 12-second, first round TKO (punches) of Randy Smith at NEF Fight Night 3 only last June.
This winning streak must have further spurred him, with the support of his fans, to book a return date with the Zuffa organization, and try his luck against the former elite Olympic wrestler in Cormier.
Well, fans now have the option of waiting for an official, or at least more categorical, statement on the matter—unless the MMA public should already accept White’s reported denial on The Underground as the final word on the now seemingly derailed hype train.
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