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Ex-UFC champion Tim Sylvia claims he would beat Francis Ngannou in his prime: ‘I don’t think he’s that good’

Former two-time undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia has claimed that in his fighting prime, he would have likely toppled Cameroonian knockout artist and fellow former division champion, Francis Ngannou – claiming the latter is actually not “that good”. Sylvia, a former two-time undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, retired from active […]

Sylvia, a former two-time undisputed heavyweight champion under the banner of the UFC, retired from active competition back in 2013, slumping to 31-10(1) as a professional following a unanimous decision loss to Ruslan Magomedov at an event in Moscow, Russia at the super heavyweight limit.

An alum of ONE Championship, Affliction and the aforenoted, UFC to boot – Sylvia won the undisputed UFC heavyweight crown in his sophomore outing in the Octagon, stopping Ricco Rodriguez with a first round TKO win.

Defending the title in a subsequent knockout win over Gan McGee, Syliva then dropped a memorable technical submission loss to Frank Mir via armbar – and then dropping a 47-second achilles lock loss to Andrei Arlovski in an interim heavyweight championship outing.

In 2006, Sylvia avenged his loss to Arlovski with a first round TKO win against the Bularus native, before taking a trilogy rubber match win in his title defense, before beating Jeff Monson. Sylvia would drop the crown to the returning former two-division champion, Randy Couture.

Tim Sylvia claims Francis Ngannou’s ability is not “that good”

Sharing his thoughts on the run of Batié native, Ngannou, Syliva dismissed a lot of the ability of the former UFC heavyweight champion.

“I don’t think Francis (Ngannou) is that good,” Tim Sylvia told Submission Radio during a recnet interview. “He’s a monster with heavy hands but his punches come from his hips and he swings wild and crazy. He hits you, you’re going to sleep but a technical fighter like (Jon) Jones and Stipe (Miocic), they beat him again.”

“I’d destroy him in my prime,” Tim Sylvia explained. “If we fought right now he beats me, but in my prime, if we could go back in time and I’m in my prime, he’s in his prime, I destory him. He’s too wild. I was more of a technical striker than he is.”

UFC legend Frank Mir voices hatred for slap fighting following Tim Sylvia’s debut: ‘I want to fix our sport’

Frank Mir is not a fan of slap fighting, including Dana White’s Power Slap League Frank Mir, 47, is set to make his final walk to the cage this August alongside his 20-year-old MMA prodigy daughter, Bella Mir. Speaking with talkSPORT, Mir shared his honest thoughts on slap fighting, a sport that has seemingly taken […]

Frank Mir is not a fan of slap fighting, including Dana White’s Power Slap League

Frank Mir, 47, is set to make his final walk to the cage this August alongside his 20-year-old MMA prodigy daughter, Bella Mir. Speaking with talkSPORT, Mir shared his honest thoughts on slap fighting, a sport that has seemingly taken the internet by storm in recent years.

“I am a big hater of slap fighting,” Mir said. “In fact, if I’m ever going through anything social media and I see anything come up, I try to swipe through it as fast as possible, so the algorithm doesn’t read that I want to see as any of that garbage. I think that is one of the things I want to fix about our sport.”

Frank Mir’s comments come on the heels of former UFC heavyweight titleholder Tim Sylvia making his debut in the controversial sport under the SlapFight Championship banner. ‘The Maine-iac’ earned a win over ‘The Bouncer’ last weekend after five rounds of back-and-forth head-splitting action. Sylvia, who has been very open about his financial hardships following a reluctant 2015 retirement, walked away from MMA after saying that he had “received enough damage over 16 years.”

Tim Sylvia is a Power Slap KING pic.twitter.com/jSu98DaTCR

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) April 23, 2023

Frank Mir Wants to Help Fix the Issue of Fighter Compensation in MMA

Once Frank Mir closes the book on his own legendary career this summer, the former UFC heavyweight champion hopes to help the next generation of fighters become more financially secure as they approach retirement, preventing them from engaging in sports like slap fighting to make ends meet.

“You know, when an NFL player goes broke three years after his career no one sits there and goes. ‘Well, the NFL didn’t pay him enough.’ No, they have a player’s union, he got paid, he got compensated, he just went out like an idiot and was having $100,000 parties,” Mir continued. “When you see an MMA fighter who is struggling after his career, people don’t really say, ‘Oh, he didn’t manage his money well.’ It’s, ‘Well, they are not compensated for what they generate.’

“If you look at some of the numbers we pull off on pay-per-views and how much the fighters get paid – that’s one of the things I want to fix about our industry. A much smaller portion goes to the promotion. We are not going to become millionaires off the back of the fighters. The show has to make money so we can continue to have a show but at the same time the fighters themselves are the most compensated.”

UFC legend Mark Coleman accepts Slap Fight clash with Tim Sylvia: ‘I have agreed to fight him next’

UFC legend Mark Coleman has agreed to compete against fellow-former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia under the SlapFight Championship banner. Mark Coleman was present during Sylvia’s SlapFight debut over the weekend, acting as a “catcher” for Sylvia’s opponent, a SlapFight standout simply named ‘The Bouncer.’ Both men traded blows back and forth for five rounds […]

UFC legend Mark Coleman has agreed to compete against fellow-former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia under the SlapFight Championship banner.

Mark Coleman was present during Sylvia’s SlapFight debut over the weekend, acting as a “catcher” for Sylvia’s opponent, a SlapFight standout simply named ‘The Bouncer.’ Both men traded blows back and forth for five rounds before ‘The Maine-iac’ put his man down for good. Following the contest, Coleman took to Instagram, revealing that he had accepted an offer to compete opposite Sylvia in a SlapFight showdown.

“SlapFight tonight on Fire TV @timsylviamma1 makes his debut in Oklahoma City the pressure is on this is very serious very real tons of courage it ain’t no@bitch slap,” Coleman posted. “If Tim wins I have agreed to fight him next. Sober is cool HammerHouse4Life.”

Tim Sylvia Declines Opportunity to Face Mark Coleman in a SlapFight

Commenting on Mark Coleman’s post, Tim Sylvia was quick to squash rumors of the potential clash, suggesting Coleman stick to his job as a “catcher” for SlapFight events.

“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.”

Mark Coleman, 58, holds the distinction of being the UFC’s first heavyweight champion, winning the title at UFC 12 in February 1997 by defeating another legend of the sport, Dan Severn. ‘The Hammer’ also holds the record for the fastest knockout in PRIDE FC history. Coleman competed against some of the biggest names in the UFC’s 30-year history, including Gary Goodridge, Don Frye, Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua, Randy Couture, and the late Stephan Bonnar. He also squared off with heavyweight icon Fedor Emelianenko on two separate occasions under the PRIDE banner.

Sylvia, 47, is best known for his UFC heavyweight championship trilogy with Andrei Arlovski inside the Octagon. ‘The Maine-iac’ retired in 2015 after failing to get licensed by the Mohegan Athletic Unit in 2015. “They said that I’ve received enough damage over 16 years,” Sylvia said while commenting on the denial.

Video – Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia scores brutal knockout in slap fighting debut

Former heavyweight champion of the UFC Tim Sylvia has gotten off to a brutal start in his new combat sports venture, slap fighting. The 6-foot-8 near 400lb behemoth competed under the Slap Fight Championship banner for the first time, and as was to be expected, had the knockout power to render his opposition unconscious. Now […]

Former heavyweight champion of the UFC Tim Sylvia has gotten off to a brutal start in his new combat sports venture, slap fighting.

The 6-foot-8 near 400lb behemoth competed under the Slap Fight Championship banner for the first time, and as was to be expected, had the knockout power to render his opposition unconscious. Now nearing 50 years of age, Sylvia has not competed in MMA since 2013, with his best title-winning years of 2003 and 2006 well in the rear-view mirror.

After first beating Ricco Rodriguez by knockout in his original UFC stint to win the title, Sylvia was banned whilst 16-0, testing positive for steroids. Six months later, He has his arm broken and was unceremoniously dumped by the UFC. He would leave only briefly, defeating Wes Sims on the independent circuit before being brought back to face Belarusian bruiser Andre Arlovski in a losing effort.

He would then repeat the process of being cut for a fight, winning, and then returning to the roster. This time though, he would fight his way up the rankings with back-to-back wins before rematching the aforementioned Arlovski. This time though, Tim Sylvia would catch Arlovski flush and knock him out, finalizing one of the more unlikely title recaptures in recent memory.

Tim Sylvia scores a knockout

BJPenn.com posted footage of the new slap-fighting debutant in action on Twitter:

It is often said that power is the last thing to go in ageing combatants, and Sylvia has it in abundance. In his 31 pro wins as an MMA fighter, 22 came by way of knockout for the man known as “The Maine-iac”, due to his hometown.

One can only wonder if former boss Dana White was in the wings, scouting for his own, soon-to-return slap spectacle.

What was your favorite Tim Sylvia fight?

UFC Hall Of Famer Chuck Liddell Recounts Bar Fight With Navy SEALs

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell recently appeared on the podcast Steve-O’s Wild Ride and recounted an altercation he had involving a group of Navy SEALs while he was working in a bar. Host Steve-O and “The Iceman” touched on several topics during the podcast, ranging from Liddell’s rise in the UFC to hiking in…

Continue Reading UFC Hall Of Famer Chuck Liddell Recounts Bar Fight With Navy SEALs at MMA News.

UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell recently appeared on the podcast Steve-O’s Wild Ride and recounted an altercation he had involving a group of Navy SEALs while he was working in a bar.

Host Steve-O and “The Iceman” touched on several topics during the podcast, ranging from Liddell’s rise in the UFC to hiking in Peru. The Jackass star was particularly interested in a story he’d heard about Liddell “fighting with a bunch of Navy SEALs” while Liddell was working as a bartender.

“I wasn’t involved in most of it,” Liddell explained. “The first time they came in, all the guys that trained with me that were normally working at that bar were in Hawaii with us.”

One person who was at the bar was Liddell’s friend and training partner Gan McGee. “The Giant” fought several times in the UFC and challenged Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight strap in 2003.

According to Liddell, McGee ended up with “a cut somewhere on his face” the first time the group came through the bar. The former UFC champion went on to detail what happened when the group of Navy SEALs returned.

“They showed up again two weeks later, and so the guys kind of got back at them,” Liddell said. “When I showed up one of my buddies had a guy pinned and the only thing I did was I ran over and this guy was hitting my buddy that had him pinned. I ran over and just head-snapped the guy and bounced his face off the ground.”

Host Steve-O was surprised that the UFC Hall of Famer didn’t choose to grapple in that situation, but Liddell was quick to explain why that was.

“Once it goes to throwing punches I don’t do that. I did that one time in college and got kicked in the face while I was doing it.” He concluded the story by indicating there were no hard feelings regarding the incident, and that “shit happens” when it comes to bar fights.

Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell is one of the most popular fighters in the history of the UFC. He reigned as UFC light heavyweight champion from 2005 to 2007 and is widely credited with helping to establish the modern popularity of both the UFC and the sport of MMA.

After retiring in 2010 following three-straight knockout losses, Liddell returned to action in 2018 for a third fight against rival Tito Ortiz. Contested under the Golden Boy Promotions brand, Liddell lost the fight by first-round KO. Liddell most recently made headlines in 2021 regarding domestic violence charges that were later dropped.

What do you think about the former UFC champion’s story from his days working as a bartender?

Continue Reading UFC Hall Of Famer Chuck Liddell Recounts Bar Fight With Navy SEALs at MMA News.

Tim Sylvia Critical Of UFC Over Not Helping With Expenses For 2004 Arm Injury

Tim Sylvia is dealing with lingering effects from his 2004 arm break and he says the UFC won’t help with expenses. Back in 2004, Sylvia had a heavyweight title bout against Frank Mir under the UFC banner. Mir locked in an armbar and referee Herb …

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