Early this morning in the U.S. it was already night in Pasay City, Philippines—where two of the more colorful characters in MMA history were soundly defeated yet again.
Deep in the depths of Metro Manila at The Mall of Asia Arena, both Phil Baroni and Tim Sylvia suffered losses at One FC: Rise to Power. This should be a sign that it’s finally time to call it a career.
Sylvia continues to move further away from having even the slightest chance at a UFC return. The former champion missed weight by six pounds for his fight with Tony Johnson.
After being out-wrestled during the first two rounds in the preliminary card matchup, Sylvia was the recipient of a huge elbow by Johnson, opening a cut on his forehead that halted the action. The ring-side doctor determined the cut was too big for Sylvia to continue. Johnson would be awarded the victory via TKO at 3:25 of Round 3.
Sylvia is now 37 and has lost back-to-back fights to what many experts would consider not the stiffest competition. He is a far cry from being relevant. His last fight in the U.S. was for a regional promotion in Maine.
He is a former champion—there’s no doubt that he was one of the best in his day. He gave it a good run trying to become relevant again. That run, unfortunately, failed. He should stop now and get out before taking more unnecessary damage by fighting too long.
The writing has been on the wall for quite some time for Phil Baroni. He just refuses to accept that his body and skills—like all fighters past their prime—are failing him. The “New York Bad Ass” was anything but in his welterweight matchup vs. Nobutatsu Suzuki.
He began the opening round with some success, but that quickly changed as Suzuki soon connected and backed Baroni up against the cage. Suzuki then connected with a knee and a follow-up right hand that sent the Long Island native down to the canvas. Baroni twisted his leg as he fell and suffered what appeared to be a broken or dislocated ankle. Once the referee saw he could no longer continue, the fight was stopped, giving Suzuki a KO victory at 4:15 of Round 1.
Baroni told the New York Post recently: “I gotta ride this bitch until the wheels fall off. I gotta keep going and hopefully catch my break.”
At 15-17 it’s quite apparent he won’t be catching one anytime soon. Baroni lost his last fight—and probably his last chance—in his second stint in the UFC, almost two years ago. The AKA fighter is one who doesn’t seem to know when enough is enough. While it is remarkable that he has managed to hang around the sport this long, with the record he has he is simply fighting for a paycheck now.
Sylvia and Baroni have held on for far too long. They both need to consider the risks moving forward and if it’s really worth it to continue.
Michael Stets is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report
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