by Jeff Cain – MMAWeekly.com
Tim Sylvia has fought his way back into the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight title picture by stringing together a three fight win streak. On January 16th, Tim defeated Assuerio Silva by unanimous decision to secure a rematch against UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski, who defeated Sylvia for the title by Ankle Lock after dropping him with an overhand right at UFC 51: ‘Super Saturday.’ Sylvia recently spoke with MMAWeekly Radio about his ‘Ultimate Fight Night 3′ win over Assuerio Silva and the impending rematch with Andrei Arlovski.
“Assuerio was a really tough dude. A lot tougher than I thought he was going to be. I hurt him a few times, but I was really surprised.” Tim Sylvia told MMAWeekly.
Assuerio took Tim Sylvia to a decision at ‘Ultimate Fight Night 3,’ something that has only happened two other times in Sylvia’s Mixed Martial Arts career.
A well-kept secret heading into the fight was Tim Sylvia was sick. Sylvia told MMAWeekly, “Not taking anything away from Assuerio, he’s a tough dude, obviously. I hit him a couple of times and couldn’t finish him. I was really sick for the fight. I got really sick Saturday and had problems holding my innards. When I was warming up, I had a few problems, and I actually had a few problems in the ring when I was fighting.”
Elaborating, Tim said, “I don’t know what it was. It got really cold when we were outside working out and stuff, going back and forth from the room. I caught something, and I just couldn’t hold in my number twos . . . If you look at the fight you’ll see that when my shorts came down, you’ll see the wet mark in my underwear.”
As disgusting or funny as you think that is, you have to admire Tim for his honestly. The only other time I can think of a fighter publically admitting to something like that was Kevin Randleman, who had the same thing happen during his fight with Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral.
Since the fight, Tim has been criticized by fans for grabbing the fence in the fight when it looked as if Assuerio Silva was about to suplex him. Tim responded to the critics by saying, “People are ripping on me on the internet, giving me shit about I’m a cheater and this and that. I did grab the fence, my mistake, but when you’re put in that situation it’s instinct. It’s something that every fighter has done it. You don’t do it on purpose. All those guys that are running mouth about me, what do they do for a living? Do they fight in front of thousands and millions of people? No, they don’t, and I honestly want to thank my true fans.”
Tim will face Andrei Arlovski for the UFC heavyweight title in his next bout. The rematch with Andrei hanging in the balance affected the way Tim approached his fight with Assuerio. Sylvia stated, “I did fight fairly cautious so I could fight Arlovski. That’s what I was after. That was my main goal.”
Now that Tim has his rematch with Arlovski, he was asked what will be different the second time around. He replied, “I’m going to be much more prepared. I’m a better fighter now than I was a year ago, and I think I’ve got Arlovski figured out.”
