Video: Tim Sylvia Takes Us Along For a Night Shift With the Milan Police Department

(Video courtesy YouTube/HDNetFights)
If you didn’t believe us when we told you that Tim Sylvia is a part-time cop in Illinois, maybe the ride-along video above will convince you. 
Notice that the department made Big Tim shave off his goatee and th…

(Video courtesy YouTube/HDNetFights)

If you didn’t believe us when we told you that Tim Sylvia is a part-time cop in Illinois, maybe the ride-along video above will convince you. 

Notice that the department made Big Tim shave off his goatee and those trademark mutton chops — not because they have a dress code, just because they thought he looked ridiculous. Rumor has it they eventually made him stop wearing his Powerhouse World Promotions heavyweight strap while on duty, too.

The former UFC heavyweight champ’s worries that nobody would recognize him were soon squashed.

"I”ve been recognized a few times pulling guys over," he explains. "Some guys when I pull up and ask for their license, registration, insurance, they’re like, ‘Are you Tim Sylvia?’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah.’ ‘That’s cool, man. I just got pulled over by Tim Sylvia,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, be safe, slow down and have a good day.’"

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Wednesday Morning MMA Link Club

(That shouldn’t be a problem, Todd. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
– Helwani VS Dundas:…

Alistair Overeem Todd Duffee Dynamite!! 2010 Japan MMA
(That shouldn’t be a problem, Todd. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)

Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail [email protected] for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…

– Helwani VS Dundas: UFC 125 Edition (Versus MMA Beat)

– Our Top UFC Photos of 2010 (MMA Fighting)

– Tim Sylvia replacing Todd Duffee at Titan Fighting Championships 16 (Five Ounces of Pain)

– The Best of Japanese MMA in 2010 (MMA Scraps)

– Brock Lesnar Looking For A Way Out Of MMA And Back To Pro-Wrestling? (SBNation.com/MMA)

– Sean McCorkle Returns Against Christian Morecraft at Fight Night 24 (Heavy.com/MMA)

– Pat Miletich Has Sold His Miletich Fighting Systems Gym (MiddleEasy)

– Exclusive Interview: Daniel Gracie talks Bellator, Georges St. Pierre and Frankie Edgar (LowKick)

– Dana White’s UFC 125 Video Blog, Part 1 (MMA Convert)

– Behind the Lens: Rich Franklin (FightMagazine)

Report: UFC Returns to Brazil in November 2011

(Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC Brazil. Jesus, they’ve been talking about "the old Vitor" since 1998??)
According to a new report, the UFC will make a long-overdue return to Brazil in November 2011. GracieMag.com sources claim …

(Vitor Belfort vs. Wanderlei Silva at UFC Brazil. Jesus, they’ve been talking about "the old Vitor" since 1998??)

According to a new report, the UFC will make a long-overdue return to Brazil in November 2011. GracieMag.com sources claim that the event will be held at the HSBC Arena in Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro, a 15,000-seat venue that will host the basketball and gymnastics events at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

The rumored event would mark the first time the UFC has held a card in Brazil since "Ultimate Brazil" in October 1998, which featured Frank Shamrock defending his middleweight belt against John Lober, Pat Miletich becoming the UFC’s first welterweight champion after outpointing Mikey Burnett, Pedro Rizzo’s UFC debut against Tank Abbott, and Vitor Belfort‘s legendary knockout of Wanderlei Silva. With a renewed rivalry brewing between Belfort and Silva, we can’t think of a better occasion for a rematch.

Semi-related: Speaking of Pedro Rizzo…the three-time UFC heavyweight title challenger is currently preparing for a fight against former champ Tim Sylvia, which will take place in the War on the Mainland promotion sometime early next year. According to Rizzo, "Dana White mentioned that the winner should get another chance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship." Both fighters are currently riding three-fight win streaks.

Josh Barnett Eyes Strikeforce Debut in 2010 Against ‘Whoever’s Willing to Do It’

Filed under: StrikeforceWith the ink on his Strikeforce contract barely dry, former Pride and UFC heavyweight standout Josh Barnett made his career intentions very clear on Thursday’s edition of “The MMA Hour.”

“My goal is to be the absolute best in t…

Filed under:

With the ink on his Strikeforce contract barely dry, former Pride and UFC heavyweight standout Josh Barnett made his career intentions very clear on Thursday’s edition of “The MMA Hour.”

“My goal is to be the absolute best in the world and to beat everybody who walks this earth,” Barnett told MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani. “And you know what? There’s a lot of people out there.”

Barnett said he signed a contract with Strikeforce that is “not perfect,” but good enough to get him back in front of American audiences for the first time since a failed drug test torpedoed his hopes of getting licensed to fight Fedor Emelianenko in an Affliction event back in July of 2009.

While Barnett said he doesn’t yet have an opponent or a date planned for his Strikeforce debut, he expects to have his first fight in the organization “before the end of the year.”

CagePotato Stats: The MMA Weigh-In Failure Leaderboard

(The moral of the story? When Gina Carano does it, it’s awesome. When Paulo Filho does it, it’s terrible. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)
Anybody can be forgiven for missing weight by a half-pound — as long as it doesn’t become a …

Gina Carano naked nude weigh-ins photos EliteXC Kobold towel
(The moral of the story? When Gina Carano does it, it’s awesome. When Paulo Filho does it, it’s terrible. / Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com
)

Anybody can be forgiven for missing weight by a half-pound — as long as it doesn’t become a habit. But when an MMA fighter comes in a full four pounds heavy, as Efrain Escudero did this week for his doomed UFC Fight Night 22 bout against Charles Oliveira, it tends to raise some eyebrows. As we’ve done previously with steroid busts, we decided to catalog the worst scale-fails in MMA history, arranged by number of pounds over the limit. When the information was available, we also listed the punishments the fighters were given, along with their excuses for missing weight, which range from injuries to salt water to the dreaded "menstrual period." This is by no means a definitive list — but we’d like it be, eventually. So if you know of any other occasions where fighters missed weight by four pounds or more, or missed weight for multiple fights, please let us know in the comments section.

Nick Diaz @ EliteXC: Return of the King
Weigh-in date: 6/13/08
Weight: 169.5, 9.5 over limit
Punishment: Diaz forfeited a portion of his fight purse to his opponent, Muhsin Corbbrey.
Fight result: Diaz by third-round TKO
Excuse: After arriving in Hawaii, Diaz said he "went in the salt water and absorbed a lot of sodium or something." In Cesar Gracie’s version of the tale, Diaz got sick after accidentally ingesting the water. Nick reached out to Corbbrey when the weight-cut was looking grim, and made a deal to hold the bout at a catchweight.

Dale Hartt @ Ringside 7: No Escape
Weigh-in date: 6/17/10
Weight: 163.4 pounds, 8.4 over limit
Fight result: Hartt lost to Guillaume DeLorenzi by second-round TKO (shoulder injury)

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Strikeforce Rolls the Dice, Signs Josh Barnett to Multi-Fight Deal

(Anybody know the heimlich? Josh swallowed one of his little toys again. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)
Despite the fact that he effectively torched Affliction’s MMA promotion by testing positive for steroids, Strikeforce has agreed to play ball with Jo…

Josh Barnett MMA Strikeforce Affliction
(Anybody know the heimlich? Josh swallowed one of his little toys again. Photo courtesy of Sherdog.)

Despite the fact that he effectively torched Affliction’s MMA promotion by testing positive for steroids, Strikeforce has agreed to play ball with Josh Barnett, signing the former UFC heavyweight champion to a multi-fight contract. Strikeforce announced the news in a press release sent out this morning, but didn’t reveal the date of Barnett’s debut or the name of his first opponent. Said the Babyface Assassin:

“Strikeforce is the home of the best heavyweight division in the world and I’m proud to be able to call it my home now. I’m looking forward to competing amongst the greatest fighters in the world and fighting my way to another world title.”

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