Tim Sylvia Discussion/War on the Mainland Trip Report

[Turd Ferguson]

Originally, I was going to use a quick "War on the Mainland" segue into the real topic at hand, Tim Sylvia, but this card was so bad that I had to do a writeup on the show itself.

Last night, because I enjoy torturing myself, I decided to watch the horrific "War on the Mainland" card. The commentators were a guy with a horrific mullet and an 80s light blue suit and Bas Rutten. Right there from the start I knew I was in for a hell of a ride. It was increasingly apparent that this was a F-League MMA show. A camerman fell. The production values were atrocious... like something out of the mid 90s. There were maybe 100 people in the stands.

Seriously... if I didn't know any better, I would think I was watching something broadcasted on ESPN2 in the mid 90s.

Jens Pulver lost to the ugliest MMA fighter I've ever seen, cementing him as the Randy "The Ram" Robinson of MMA. The poor guy just cannot win, and the only thing Bas could say was "He should move to Brazil".

The card featured three title fights.

The first one was Thales Leites vs. Matt Horwich for their Middleweight Title. Matt Horwich is basically the Crispin Glover of MMA. He's psychotic, and he even sounds and looks like him a little. He started talking about his interests in quantum physics, and he carried a bible to the ring with him. He also proved he was a rambling psychopath. Horwich is pretty much a bum, and Thales Leites has been on a roll since getting released by the UFC. It should have been an easy win for Leites, and he got submitted in the fourth round.

The second title fight was for the Light Heavyweight Title. UFC castoff Jason Lambert took on Tony Lopez, who dropped 26 lbs in one week to take this fight. Lopez won in hilarious fashion by knocking Lambert out cold, and really squashing any hope he ever had of returning to the UFC.

The main event was a Heavyweight Title fight where Tim Sylvia took on Paul Buentello. The fight was typical Sylvia, just forcing his weight on Buentello, except instead of it being on the ground, it was in corners of the ring. They had a couple hilarious looking exchanges standing, but in the end, Sylvia knocked Buentello out.

The commentator who took a time machine from 1985 said that "TIM SYLVIA IS BACK!", which made me almost spit out my iced tea.

How is Tim Sylvia "back"?! He beat Jason Riley, Pudzianowski, and Paul Buentello. Not exactly a murderer's row of talent. I hate Tim Sylvia, and the fact that Affliction gave him $800,000 to get submitted by Fedor Emelianenko is nauseating. Sure, Sylvia was a good fighter back when he came to the UFC, but he is easily one of the most hateable fighters in MMA. He's a sloppy fighter, and shortly after becoming champion, his fights went from sloppy and exciting to sloppy and boring.

The thing about Sylvia is that he's just a DOUCHE. Around the third Arlovski fight, he stopped having sloppy exciting fights and went from just using his size and mass to just lie on top of opponents and throw jabs at them. If he wasn't doing this on the ground, then he'd do it against the cage. He never attempted offense unless he had to so he could keep the fight on the ground. He's also an overall embarrassment, between his appearance on "Blind Date", getting knocked out in 9 seconds by Ray Mercer and being the only fighter to crap his pants in the Octagon.

He also wore his UFC Title everywhere. He desperately wanted to be liked so badly by a piece of crap like Matt Hughes that he would willingly be bullied by him. Hughes is a foot smaller than Sylvia and weighs 100 lbs less than he does.

But where do you see Tim Sylvia going from here? He wants to return to the UFC, and he even said that he wants to fight Brock Lesnar. I don't think the UFC should take him back. I don't know the circumstances of him leaving the company in the first place, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was him demanding more money that he really didn't deserve in the first place. I don't think the UFC would take him back, because he probably wouldn't be anywhere near the title in the first place. They'd probably want to use him as a gatekeeper pretty much for guys like Matt Mitrione or Stefan Struve (and a Struve/Sylvia fight would be hysterical).

I really don't see Strikeforce having too much interest in him either. Does anyone really want to see Sylvia/Arlovski IV? Fedor already dismantled him. Alistair Overeem would probably murder him.

I think Sylvia's going to be stuck roaming the B/C-leagues for the rest of his career, and maybe getting the odd fight in DREAM every now and then to fight guys like Josh Barnett and maybe Minowaman. I don't think he's ever going to be a major player in MMA, but crazier things have happened.

I've been wanting to make this thread for awhile, but really couldn't think of a good reason to. Basically, you can answer the question I posed, or you could do the much funnier option and utilize this as a Tim Sylvia hate thread.

 

[INDYjon22]

Well first off, I would like to see Sylvia/Arlovski 4 for the soul purpose of seeing AA knock that fat turd out one more time and even the series up. As for the question of what I see happening with him in the future, well I agree with you Guy. I think he will just continue fighting the smaller cards and beating up cans and taking fights at shows like Sharks or Impact against guys like Barnett and getting his ass kicked. I don't see why UFC or Strikeforce would have any interest in him. He hasn't done anything significant in MMA in years and won't do anything anytime soon. He just can't hang with the top guys anymore and the fans don't want to see him. If the UFC did sign him then I would only want to see him fight up and comers, not the top guys. However, I have zero interest in watching Tim Sylvia at all and just wish he would fade off into MMA obscurity.

 

[Buffalo Dave]

I don't know the circumstances of him leaving the company in the first place, but I wouldn't be shocked if it was him demanding more money that he really didn't deserve in the first place.

You know you are pretty much right with that. According to his Wikipedia page this is the reasoning for him leaving the UFC,

Early in 2008, Sylvia requested and was granted a release from his UFC contract, which still had one fight remaining on it. Sylvia cited unhappiness with pay, desire to face Fedor Emelianenko, the non-exclusive contracts of other organizations, and the opportunity to fight more often as his reasons for leaving

So yeah it seems more like just a money thing than anything.

Guy you pretty much summed it up with him, there isn't really a place for him in the UFC unless he was a gatekeeper for the fighters you have mentioned plus guys like Schaub, Barry, and Duffee. There is no way he would be able to handle the top guys right now. Carwin, JDS, Velasquez, Nelson, and Mir would beat the crap out of him. Plus with the quality of the opponents he has faced there would be no way he would be able to jump into title contention. One thing we forgot to ask ourselves if the UFC did come calling would he be able to make weight? I'm pretty sure he has been fighting at superheavy weight. As for Strikeforce they might just sign him for another AA fight. Just for some draw power, and to get AA on track again!! Having Rodgers destroy him would be fun to watch too. Right now I see SF being the more realistic chance for him. But before he thinks he can go back to the UFC he has to get through Rizzo, which is definitely gonna be his toughest fight since Fedor. He loses the fight then he definitely doesn't stand a chance.

 

[jmt225]

I love MMA as much as the next guy, but not even I would put myself through watching this shit fest.

First of all... Jesus, just give it up, Jens. The dude just never evolved with the sport. He has heavy hands for a little guy and some decent wrestling, but that's all he has to offer. His Jiu-Jitsu is some of the worst in the sport, and he has no chin whatsoever... it's time for him to hang them up. That's all there is to it.

Thales Leites obviously didn't take his fight seriously. I doubt he hardly trained for it. No way does someone his level of BJJ gets caught against a bible thumping scrub. He gassed and then looked for a way out. Pathetic.

Now, on to Tim Sylvia... first let me say I'm disappointed Paul Buentello didn't knock the guy out. I thought for sure Buentello was going to train his ass off for this fight and completely destroy Sylvia. I guess I was just way too overly impressed with his performances against Struve and Kongo.

But as Guy said... there's not much you can do when a 300+ giant puts you against the cage for 10 minutes other than to finally wear down, especially when you're someone in the shape Buentello obviously was in.

As far as what's next for Tim Sylvia... well, his next fight is against Pedro Rizzo is next for sure, and for the record... I have complete faith in Rizzo beating the ever living shit out of Sylvia. He won't allow that big bastard to press him against the cage, and he's going to chop on those legs like trees. It shall be glorious.

If by some miracle Sylvia does beat Rizzo though, then he either continues doing what he's doing, which is of course fighting washed-up has beens on no-name shows, or he goes to Strikeforce or Japan. However, I don't think we'll ever see him back in the UFC. Dana White didn't like Sylvia when he was actually contracted with the company... I doubt that's changed since Sylvia screwed them over.

 

[Fizzy]

Sylvia sucks plain and simple. He had what I consider the worst MMA fight in history against a strongman turned MMA fighter, and just looks absolutely terrible. He has always been out of shape, and has always been just a poster boy for what fighters shouldn't be like. I really hope he loses his next fight, and stays fighting little shows so I never have to watch him fight again. He has always been my least favorite fighter, and him coming back to a main brand of MMA would be atrocious. He deserves recognition for being the Heavyweight champion, but other than that he should stay fighting in little shows because he would get absolutely mauled in the UFC.

 

[Tha Wolfpac]

Tim Sylvia is just pure shit. I seriously never saw any stand out ability in this man, and have never found him to my liking what so ever. Fighting nobodies, and fighting in the minor leagues is something he should stick too, seeing how much he likes a payday no matter how that money is achieved. Seriously if he thinks he has a shot again in the UFC, then maybe i should sign up to, if he can make it back in then i can too. The man should just retire, and get the fuck off my tv screen if he ever appears there again and vanish from the MMA scene because in this current day and age he doesnt fit in with current MMA.