Tim Sylvia

Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American retired mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, professional wrestler, and a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion.

He has competed as a Super Heavyweight and Heavyweight.

While he is best known for competing in the UFC, Sylvia has also fought for Affliction, the International Fighting Championships (IFC), and ONE FC.

Sylvia was born and raised in Ellsworth, Maine, attending Ellsworth High School and graduating in 1992.

He joined a karate school as a child, and began wrestling in high school.

After graduation, he worked construction, community gardening, hanging sheet rock, as a bouncer, and painting houses.

After high school, he played semi-pro football for three years before becoming interested in MMA, and began to train with Marcus Davis, a fellow bouncer.

During this time Sylvia decided to take up boxing and grappling.

After training for a year, and winning grappling tournaments, he got the opportunity to fight in a Rhode Island no holds barred amateur event, in which he knocked out his opponent in 17 seconds.

A long time UFC fan, Sylvia and some friends attended UFC 28 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2000.

In late 2000 Sylvia sold all of his belongings and moved to Bettendorf, Iowa, to train with Team Miletich which had members such as former UFC champions Matt Hughes and Jens Pulver.

Sylvia made his professional MMA debut in 2001 fighting for the IFC.

He went on to rack up thirteen consecutive wins with ten knockouts in organizations such as the Hawaii-based SuperBrawl, and Extreme Challenge.

In 2002, Sylvia signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and won a TKO victory over Wesley "Cabbage" Correira at UFC 39 when Correira's corner threw in the towel.

Sylvia then went on to defeat Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 41, winning the UFC heavyweight championship for the first time.

Soon after Sylvia defended his title with another quick victory over Gan McGee at UFC 44.

After the fight with McGee, Sylvia tested positive for the banned substance Stanozolol.

He voluntarily forfeited his title and was handed a six-month suspension, and fined $10,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

He later commented that the steroid usage was for shedding excess weight.

Sylvia apologized and made no effort to claim innocence.

At UFC 48 in June 2004, Sylvia returned to face Frank Mir for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship; he lost.

Early on in the fight Mir trapped Sylvia's right arm in an armbar submission attempt.

As Sylvia tried to escape the hold, Sylvia's right radius bone snapped about three inches below his elbow.

Referee Herb Dean immediately stopped the fight and declared Sylvia unable to continue.

Sylvia took exception to the decision and repeatedly claimed his arm was not broken (though the break could be explicitly seen on the slow-motion replay of the fight), even touching it and moving it around to demonstrate.

Sylvia was taken to a local hospital where an x-ray revealed that his arm was in fact broken; he then took several months off to recuperate.

Afterward, Sylvia said he was glad the referee stopped the fight, thereby saving his arm from further damage.

Six months after his loss to Frank Mir, Sylvia returned (a titanium plate had been attached to his forearm) to the UFC in February 2005, taking on Andrei Arlovski to crown an interim UFC heavyweight champion as Mir, while still the nominal UFC champion, had suffered numerous injuries from a motorcycle accident that left him unable to defend his title.

Sylvia was knocked to the ground by an overhand right punch, and while on the ground was caught in an Achilles lock and submitted.

In May 2005, Sylvia defeated Mike Block in the IFC by TKO, then went on to face MMA veteran Tra Telligman at UFC 54.

With one second left in the first round, Sylvia landed a left head kick which knocked out Telligman.

Sylvia made his cable television debut next, fighting Assuerio Silva at Ultimate Fight Night 3 on Spike TV, winning a unanimous decision after three rounds in a match that was intended to decide the next number one contender.

At UFC 59, Sylvia was finally awarded his rematch with the then-outright champion Andrei Arlovski.

After being knocked down by Arlovski, Sylvia won the fight via knockout in round one.

Sylvia next defended his championship in a trilogy fight with Andrei Arlovski at UFC 61.

Sylvia utilized his reach and size advantage to win the uneventful fight by unanimous decision.

Sylvia next fought Mundials world Jiu-Jitsu champion, 2-time ADCC world champion and Jiu-Jitsu Pan American champion Jeff Monson at UFC 65.

Billed as a classic "striker vs. grappler" match, Sylvia won again via unanimous decision by keeping the fight on the outside with the jab.

On March 3, 2007, Sylvia fought former UFC Heavyweight and UFC Light Heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 68.

Sylvia was promoted to a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on October 31, 2011.