Tim Sylvia

About Tim Sylvia

Timothy Deane Sylvia (born March 5, 1976) is an American professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter. He is the former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion and holds a professional record of 24 wins and 4 losses. He trains as a member of the Miletich Fighting Systems (MFS) camp and is part of their MFSE (Miletich Fighting System Elite) group. He presently fights for Adrenaline MMA (previously known as M-1 Global)

He holds notable wins over Ben Rothwell, Mike Whitehead, Jason Lambert, Wesley Correira, Ricco Rodriguez, Gan McGee, Wes Sims, Tra Telligman, Assuerio Silva, Jeff Monson, Brandon Vera, and Andrei Arlovski (2x).

Sylvia joined a karate school as a child, and began wrestling in high school. After graduation, he worked construction, community gardening, hanging sheet rock, a bouncer for Shane Reids bar, and painting houses. He was playing semi-pro football when became interested in MMA, and began to train with Marcus Davis . During this time he decided to take up boxing and grappling, and after training for a year, Sylvia entered his first grappling contest, taking first place in his division.[citation needed] Soon after, 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.[citation needed]