125-541: 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
250-409: A combat -based style which blended wrestling , kickboxing and submission grappling . Another promotion formed around the same time by Akira Maeda called Fighting Network RINGS initially started as a shoot-style professional wrestling promotion but it also promoted early mixed martial arts contests. From 1995 onwards it began identifying itself as a mixed martial arts promotion and moved away from
375-453: A fencer , and his fight against Taiwanese kung fu master Wu Ming Jeet. Wong combined boxing and kickboxing into his kung fu, as Bruce Lee did. Muhammad Ali vs. Antonio Inoki took place in Japan in 1976. The classic match-up between professional boxer and professional wrestler turned sour as each fighter refused to engage in the other's style, and after a 15-round stalemate it was declared
500-668: A gyaku-ude-garami armlock, which later became known as the "Kimura" in Brazilian jiu jitsu. In 1963, a catch wrestler and judoka " Judo " Gene Lebell fought professional boxer Milo Savage in a no-holds-barred match. Lebell won by Harai Goshi to rear naked choke, leaving Savage unconscious. This was the first televised bout of mixed-style fighting in North America. The hometown crowd was so enraged that they began to boo and throw chairs at Lebell. On February 12, 1963, three karatekas from Oyama dojo ( kyokushin later) went to
625-709: A silver medal at the Sambo World Cup and another silver medal at the World Sambo Championship. Arlovski began taking a greater interest in other martial arts , studying kickboxing and developing his striking skills to complement his Sambo-based grappling abilities. At the age of 20, Arlovski began his professional MMA career at the Mix Fight M-1 in St Petersburg , Russia on 9 April 1999 facing Viacheslav Datsik . After
750-633: A 1905 fight between French savateur George Dubois and a judo practitioner Re-nierand which resulted in the latter winning by submission, as well as the highly publicized 1957 fight between French savateur and professional boxer Jacques Cayron and a young Japanese karateka named Mochizuki Hiroo which ended when Cayron knocked Hiroo out with a hook . Catch wrestling appeared in the late 19th century, combining several global styles of wrestling , including Indian pehlwani and English wrestling. In turn, catch wrestling went on to greatly influence modern MMA. No-holds-barred fighting reportedly took place in
875-557: A Nation on 31 August 2012, in Manila . The fight between Arlovski and Tim Sylvia ended in a no-contest due to an illegal soccer kick by Arlovski. According to ONE FC rules, soccer kicks are legal only if the referee clears the fighter to do so after determining the grounded fighter can still intelligently defend himself. Arlovski received no such clearance and the kick was therefore deemed illegal. Four days later, One FC eliminated this restriction. This rule change, had it been enforced prior to
1000-411: A base in striking arts became more competitive as they cross-trained in styles based around takedowns and submission holds. Likewise, those from the varying grappling styles added striking techniques to their arsenal. This increase of cross-training resulted in fighters becoming increasingly multidimensional and well-rounded in their skill-sets. The new hybridization of fighting styles can be seen in
1125-851: A competitive stand up battle, Arlovski would be knocked out with a hard straight, losing his debut. Not deterred, Arlovski returned in 2000 to M-1 Global at the European Championships , taking the heavyweight crown with a submission victory and a KO victory. Arlovski made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut at UFC 28 , defeating Aaron Brink by submission . He was then thrown in against top opposition, losing to future UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 32 and heavyweight contender Pedro Rizzo at UFC 36 . Despite those early defeats, wins over future British Cage Rage Light heavyweight Champion Ian Freeman at UFC 40 and future IFL Light heavyweight Champion Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 44 propelled Arlovski back into
1250-515: A contest was held in France between French savateurs and English bare-knuckle boxers in which French fighter Rambaud alias la Resistance fought English fighter Dickinson and won using his kicks. However, the English team still won the four other match-ups during the contest. Contests occurred in the late 19th to mid-20th century between French savateurs and other combat styles. Examples include
1375-410: A crowd of local Chicago fans. Arlovski was signed to Strikeforce and fought former EliteXC heavyweight champion Antônio Silva on 15 May 2010, at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery . Following 3 rounds of hard-hitting punches from both and with neither fighter giving in to the other, Arlovski lost by unanimous decision. Arlovski was defeated by Sergei Kharitonov via KO on 12 February 2011, as part of
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#17327971575421500-771: A different set of rules (example: eliminating kicking a grounded opponent), which differed from other leagues which were more in favour of realistic, "street-like" fights. The first documented use of the term mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic Howard Rosenberg in 1993. Originally promoted as a competition to find the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat, competitors from different fighting styles were pitted against one another in contests with relatively few rules. Later, individual fighters incorporated multiple martial arts into their style. MMA promoters were pressured to adopt additional rules to increase competitors' safety, to comply with sport regulations and to broaden mainstream acceptance of
1625-522: A draw. Muhammad Ali sustained a substantial amount of damage to his legs, as Antonio Inoki slide-kicked him continuously for the duration of the bout, causing him to be hospitalized for the next three days. The fight played an important role in the history of mixed martial arts. The basis of modern mixed martial arts in Japan can be found across several shoot-style professional wrestling promotions such as UWF International and Pro Wrestling Fujiwara Gumi , both founded in 1991, that attempted to create
1750-654: 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
1875-561: A mixed match, which catch wrestler Steele won in 35 seconds. 27 years later, Ray Steele's protégé Lou Thesz fought boxer Jersey Joe Walcott twice in mixed style bouts. The first match was a real contest which Thesz won while the second match was a work, which Thesz also won. In the 1940s in the Palama Settlement in Hawaii, five martial arts masters, under the leadership of Adriano Emperado, curious to determine which martial art
2000-692: A new peak of popularity in North America in December 2006: a rematch between then UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and former champion Tito Ortiz , rivaled the PPV sales of some of the biggest boxing events of all time, and helped the UFC's 2006 PPV gross surpass that of any promotion in PPV history. In 2007, Zuffa LLC , the owners of the UFC MMA promotion, bought Japanese rival MMA brand Pride FC , merging
2125-399: A result of an increased number of competitors, organized training camps, information sharing, and modern kinesiology , the understanding of the effectiveness of various strategies has been greatly improved. UFC commentator Joe Rogan claimed that martial arts evolved more in the ten years following 1993 (the first UFC event ) than in the preceding 700 years combined. "During his reign atop
2250-399: A right lead, Sylvia countered with a short right uppercut to the chin, knocking Arlovski to the mat. Sylvia followed up with punches on the ground until referee Herb Dean stopped the match at 2:43 of the first round. The rubber match between Tim Sylvia and Arlovski took place on 8 July 2006, at UFC 61 . In what turned out to be a 5-round battle of attrition, neither fighter was able to KO
2375-482: A rooftop fight scene in the 1950s and 1960s, where gangs from rival martial arts schools challenged each other to bare-knuckle fights on Hong Kong's rooftops, in order to avoid crackdowns by colonial British Hong Kong authorities. The most famous fighter to emerge from Hong Kong's rooftop fight scene was Bruce Lee , who combined different techniques from different martial arts schools into his own hybrid martial arts system called Jeet Kune Do . Lee went on to popularize
2500-524: A single punch nine seconds into the first round. Sylvia weighed in at 310.6 pounds for the Super Heavyweight fight. Before his bout with Mercer, Sylvia was scheduled to face Paul Buentello at Affliction: Trilogy . But after the devastating KO loss, Cox and Affliction decided it would be best for Sylvia to sit out the next few months, because of his recent losses. After Affliction folded, Sylvia defeated Jason Riley via TKO (punches) 2:32 into
2625-513: A stress test, MRI, EKG, eye, blood and physical." Apparently all the tests ordered by the Mohegan commission have made a significant impact on Sylvia's bank account, as he wrote on Cox's Facebook thread that he is “[$ 2,000] in the hole because of all the [tests] I had to do. After the cancelled fight Sylvia announced his retirement from MMA. He appeared in the cage alongside his proposed opponent and said an MRI issue prevented him from competing. “This
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#17327971575422750-551: A total of just five minutes. sparking a revolution in martial arts. The first Vale Tudo Japan tournaments were held in 1994 and 1995 and were both won by Rickson Gracie . Around the same time, International Vale Tudo competition started to develop through (World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC), VTJ , IVC , UVF etc.). Interest in mixed martial arts as a sport resulted in the creation of the Pride Fighting Championships (Pride) in 1997. The sport reached
2875-501: Is a Belarusian-American professional mixed martial artist and actor, who is currently a free agent. A former UFC Heavyweight Champion , he competed in the heavyweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and holds the record for most wins (23) in UFC heavyweight history. Arlovski has also competed for Strikeforce , WSOF , Affliction , EliteXC , ONE FC and M-1 Challenge . Arlovski
3000-597: Is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling , incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place throughout Japan and the countries of East Asia . At the same time, in Brazil there was a phenomenon called vale tudo , which became known for unrestricted fights between various styles such as judo , Brazilian jiu-jitsu , catch wrestling , luta livre , Muay Thai and capoeira . An early high-profile mixed bout
3125-439: Is the end of my career,” Sylvia said at Mohegan Sun Arena, adding, “They said that I’ve received enough damage over 16 years.” On September 25, 2010, Sylvia made his pro wrestling debut, losing via submission to fellow mixed-martial-artist Josh Barnett , at IGF 's Genome 13 event. A grassroots Twitter campaign started on August 1, 2013, for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling president Dixie Carter to sign Sylvia and add him to
3250-551: 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
3375-670: The Pride Fighting Championships in 1997. In the 1990s, the Gracie family brought their Brazilian jiu-jitsu style , first developed in Brazil from the 1920s, to the United States—which culminated in the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) promotion company in 1993. The company held an event with almost no rules, mostly due to the influence of Art Davie and Rorion Gracie attempting to replicate mixed contests that existed in Brazil and Japan. They would later implement
3500-662: The Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort in Atlantic City . However, after the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board refused to sanction the fight, the event was moved to Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama , and rescheduled to June 13. Only days before the bout, it was changed to be contested under MMA rules, again because of sanctioning problems. When they finally met, Mercer knocked Sylvia out with
3625-438: The UFC came to prominence in mainstream media in 2006, and with their 2007 merger with Pride FC and purchases of WEC and Strikeforce , it has been the most significant MMA promotion in the world in terms of popularity, salaries, talent , and level of competition. According to Fight Matrix , these are the promotions with the top ranked talent as of November 2024: There are hundreds of MMA training facilities throughout
3750-575: The karateka was allowed to use his fists, feet and knees, while the boxer could only use his fists. Hadley won the fight via knockout on the first round. In 1988 Rick Roufus challenged Changpuek Kiatsongrit to a non-title Muay Thai vs. kickboxing super fight. Roufus was at the time an undefeated Kickboxer and held both the KICK Super Middleweight World title and the PKC Middleweight U.S. title. Kiatsongrit
3875-743: The police academy in Minsk, Arlovski combined his interest in a career in law enforcement with his growing martial arts participation by taking up the required police defense course in Sambo and quickly showed himself to be a highly competent Sambo opponent. In 1999, Arlovski won the European Youth Sambo Championship and the World Youth Championship. Not long after, Arlovski became the first Master of Sports and then International Master of Sports . He took
Tim Sylvia - Misplaced Pages Continue
4000-645: The "Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts". The motion passed unanimously. In November 2005, the United States Army began to sanction mixed martial arts with the first annual Army Combatives Championships held by the US Army Combatives School . Canada formally decriminalized mixed martial arts with a vote on Bill S-209 on June 5, 2013. The bill allows for provinces to have the power to create athletic commissions to regulate and sanction professional mixed martial arts bouts. Since
4125-671: The "father of mixed martial arts" stating: "If you look at the way Bruce Lee trained, the way he fought, and many of the things he wrote, he said the perfect style was no style. You take a little something from everything. You take the good things from every different discipline, use what works, and you throw the rest away". A contemporary of Bruce Lee, Wing Chun practitioner Wong Shun Leung , gained prominence fighting in 60–100 illegal beimo fights against other Chinese martial artists of various styles. Wong also fought and won against Western fighters of other combat styles, such as his match against Russian boxer Giko, his televised fight against
4250-607: The 1920s and became renowned through its association with the " Gracie challenge ", which was issued by Carlos Gracie and Hélio Gracie and upheld later by descendants of the Gracie family . The "Gracie Challenges" were held in the garages and gyms of the Gracie family members. When the popularity grew, these types of mixed bouts were a staple attraction at the carnivals in Brazil. In the mid-20th century, mixed martial arts contests emerged in Hong Kong's street fighting culture in
4375-633: The Brawlers contests", and ended the sport. Japan had its own form of mixed martial arts discipline, Shooto , which evolved from shoot wrestling in 1985, as well as the shoot wrestling derivative Pancrase , which was founded as a promotion in 1993. Pancrase 1 was held in Japan in September 1993, two months before UFC 1 was held in the United States in November 1993. In 1993, the sport
4500-512: The Iowa Athletic Commission officially sanctioned Battlecade Extreme Fighting under a modified form of its existing rules for Shootfighting . These rules created the three 'five-minute round/one-minute break' format, and mandated shootfighting gloves, as well as weight classes for the first time. Illegal blows were listed as groin strikes, head butting, biting, eye gouging, hair pulling, striking an opponent with an elbow while
4625-642: The Lumpinee Boxing Stadium in Thailand and fought against three Muay Thai fighters. The three kyokushin karate fighters were Tadashi Nakamura, Kenji Kurosaki and AkiFujihira (also known as Noboru Osawa), while the Muay Thai team of three authentic Thai fighter. Japan won 2–1: Tadashi Nakamura and Akio Fujihira both knocked out their opponents with punches while Kenji Kurosaki, who fought the Thai,
4750-629: The Ohio State Athletic Commission refused to sanction the bout, saying that the fight was "non-competitive", resulting in the bout being rescheduled to June 6, 2010, in Nova Scotia, Canada, for the IFC Superheavyweight title. In the meantime, Sylvia fought five time World's Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski at Moosin: God of Martial Arts on May 21, 2010, winning by submission (punches). The Sims fight
4875-458: The Russian dropping Sylvia and taking his back before securing a rear naked choke, forcing Sylvia to submit at 0:36 of the first round. On February 25, 2009, Sylvia's manager (and Adrenaline MMA CEO ) Monte Cox announced that Sylvia would face former boxing world heavyweight champion and 1988 Olympic gold medalist Ray Mercer in a boxing main event at Adrenaline MMA III on May 30, 2009, at
5000-673: The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament. It was his fourth straight loss, three of which were by way of KO. On 17 February 2011, Arlovski posted a video on his website in which he spoke for over an hour, repeatedly saying that he would absolutely not retire. Arlovski indicated that his trainers had recommended that he retire; however, Greg Jackson was against his retirement. Arlovski dedicated himself to training exclusively with Greg Jackson in New Mexico to refocus on his MMA career and make
5125-566: The TNA ranks. Sylvia himself endorsed the campaign by re-tweeting it to his Twitter followers. At the age of 47, Sylvia made his return to combat sports, competing at SlapFIGHT Championship 25 on April 22, 2023. Sylvia knocked out his opponent in the fifth round. Sylvia has a son. In 2010, Sylvia confirmed that he is a police officer in the State of Illinois on a part-time basis (one day a month). Mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts ( MMA )
Tim Sylvia - Misplaced Pages Continue
5250-399: The UFC elite. In 2004, a motorcycle accident injury suffered by then UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir led to the creation of an interim heavyweight title. It was decided that the two top heavyweight contenders would meet to declare the interim champion. Arlovski faced former heavyweight champion, Tim Sylvia . They were originally supposed to fight at UFC 47 , but Sylvia was pulled from
5375-512: The United States by CV Productions, Inc. Its first competition, called Tough Guy Contest was held on March 20, 1980, New Kensington, Pennsylvania , Holiday Inn . During that year the company renamed the brand to Super Fighters and sanctioned ten regulated tournaments in Pennsylvania . In 1983, Pennsylvania State Senate passed a bill known as the " Tough Guy Law " that specifically called for: "Prohibiting Tough Guy contests or Battle of
5500-410: The bout between Sylvia and Heden was later scrapped for unknown reasons and Sylvia would now face submission specialist Patrick Barrentine. Sylvia defeated Barrentine via TKO in the first round. Sylvia weighed in at 280.5 pounds for the bout, 30 pounds lighter than his previous bout against Wagner. Sylvia was expected to take on Pedro Rizzo at ProElite 2 on November 5, However Rizzo later pulled out of
5625-549: The bout due to injury. Sylvia instead competed against German heavyweight Andreas Kraniotakes and won the fight via unanimous decision. Sylvia fought against Randy Smith at NEF: Fight Night 3 on June 16 in his home state of Maine. Sylvia defeated Smith in 12 seconds via TKO. In mid-July 2012, it was announced that Tim Sylvia had signed with the Asia-based promotion ONE Championship . The promotion quickly announced that Sylvia would face Andrei Arlovski in his debut, marking
5750-412: The bout in favor of Arlovski. Arlovski returned to face Stipe Miocic on 2 January 2016, at UFC 195 . He was defeated via TKO in the first round. Arlovski faced Alistair Overeem on 8 May 2016, at UFC Fight Night 87 . After a back and forth first round, Arlovski lost the fight via TKO in the second round. Arlovski next faced Josh Barnett on 3 September 2016, at UFC Fight Night 93 . He lost
5875-654: The bout, would have resulted in Arlovski winning by TKO. Arlovski had knocked Tim Sylvia down with punches before he landed the illegal kicks that caused the referee to stop the fight. Arlovski headlined the debut event from the World Series of Fighting against fellow Strikeforce veteran Devin Cole on 3 November 2012, at World Series of Fighting 1 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This event aired live on NBC Sports . He won
6000-470: The commentary that Arlovski came close to withdrawing from the fight due to a calf injury in training. The win also earned Arlovski his first Fight of the Night bonus award. Arlovski faced Frank Mir on 5 September 2015, at UFC 191 , winning by unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, and 30–27) in a fight which many, including UFC president Dana White, thought Mir won. 12 of 15 media outlets, however, scored
6125-460: The concept of mixed martial arts internationally. Early mixed-match martial arts professional wrestling bouts in Japan (known as Ishu Kakutōgi Sen (異種格闘技戦), literally "heterogeneous combat sports bouts") became popular with Antonio Inoki only in the 1970s. Inoki was a disciple of Rikidōzan , but also of Karl Gotch , who trained numerous Japanese wrestlers in catch wrestling . Regulated mixed martial arts competitions were first introduced in
6250-523: The conclusion of the meeting, all parties in attendance were able to agree upon a uniform set of rules to govern the sport of mixed martial arts. The rules adopted by the NJSACB have become the de facto standard set of rules for professional mixed martial arts across North America. On July 30, 2009, a motion was made at the annual meeting of the Association of Boxing Commissions to adopt these rules as
6375-534: The contracted fighters under one promotion. Comparisons were drawn to the consolidation that occurred in other sports, such as the AFL-NFL Merger in American football . The first documented use of the name mixed martial arts was in a review of UFC 1 by television critic, Howard Rosenberg , in 1993. The term gained popularity when the website, newfullcontact.com (one of the biggest websites covering
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#17327971575426500-528: The early 1920s, merged various forms of combat styles such as wrestling, judo and striking into one unique martial art. The popularity of professional wrestling, which was contested under various catch wrestling rules at the time, waned after World War I , when the sport split into two genres: " shoot ", in which the fighters actually competed, and " show ", which evolved into modern professional wrestling . In 1936, heavyweight boxing contender Kingfish Levinsky and professional wrestler Ray Steele competed in
6625-475: The fellow UFC veteran. The fight never occurred, however, as PWP disappeared after this inaugural event. Sylvia fought Vince Lucero at CFX/Extreme Challenge on December 11. Sylvia won the fight by submission due to punches. Sylvia fought Abe Wagner at Titan Fighting Championships 16 (Sylvia replaced Todd Duffee ), Sylvia weighed in at 311 pounds and was defeated 32 seconds into the first round, ending his 4 fight win streak. The super heavyweight matchup served as
6750-472: The fight by unanimous decision (29–28, 28–27, and 29–27). After five consecutive defeats, Arlovski relocated his training to American Top Team . Arlovski faced Júnior Albini at UFC Fight Night: Poirier vs. Pettis on 11 November 2017 in Norfolk, Virginia . He won the fight via unanimous decision. Arlovski faced Stefan Struve on 4 March 2018 at UFC 222 . He won the fight by unanimous decision. In
6875-409: The fight due to recurring positive drug tests. Arlovski ended up facing Wesley Correira , winning the fight via TKO in the second round. The pairing of Arlovski and Sylvia remained intact and occurred at UFC 51 . In the fight, Arlovski eventually connected with an overhand right and dropped Sylvia. On the ground, Arlovski followed up with an Achilles lock that forced Sylvia to tap out at 47 seconds of
7000-419: 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 . After being knocked down by Couture he lost the fight and title by decision. On October 20, 2007, at UFC 77 , Sylvia defeated Brandon Vera via unanimous decision (29–28, 29–27, 29–28). In the post-fight interview he called out Cheick Kongo to fight for
7125-469: The fight via rear naked choke submission in the third round, resulting in his first submission loss in his professional MMA career. Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night for their performance. Arlovski faced Francis Ngannou on 28 January 2017 at UFC on Fox 23 . He lost the fight via TKO in the first round. Arlovski faced Marcin Tybura on 17 June 2017 at UFC Fight Night 111 . He lost
7250-459: The fight via KO in the first round. On 6 June 2009, Arlovski fought up and coming heavyweight Brett Rogers at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields . Arlovski lost the fight via TKO in the opening round. After the defeat, in October 2009, Arlovski began training with acclaimed MMA coach Greg Jackson . Arlovski was a featured attendee at Strikeforce: Emelianenko vs. Rogers , where he was mobbed by
7375-528: The fight via TKO in the first round. Arlovski fought Anthony Johnson in the main event at World Series of Fighting 2 on 23 March 2013. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Controversy arose after the fight when it was revealed that multiple rounds exceeded the five-minute time limit. The punch believed to have broken Arlovski's jaw was landed after the time at which the round should have ended. Arlovski next replaced an injured Anthony Johnson against Mike Kyle at WSOF 5 on 14 September 2013. He won
7500-463: 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 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
7625-419: The fight via split decision. The result was overturned to no contest after Harris tested positive for prohibited substance LGB4033, a selective androgen receptor modulator (SARM). Arlovski faced Augusto Sakai on 27 April 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs. Hermansson . He lost the fight by a controversial split decision. A rematch with Ben Rothwell took place on 20 July 2019 at UFC on ESPN 4 . He won
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#17327971575427750-420: The fight via unanimous decision and set the all-time record for UFC heavyweight victories at 17. His next fight was with Jairzinho Rozenstruik on 2 November 2019 at UFC 244 . He lost the fight via knockout in round one. Arlovski was scheduled to face Philipe Lins on 2 May 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Hermansson vs. Weidman . However, on April 9, Dana White , the president of UFC announced that this event
7875-500: The fight via unanimous decision. Arlovski faced Bellator veteran Mike Hayes at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 9 on 16 December 2012, in Moscow, Russia. He won the fight via unanimous decision. Arlovski was also scheduled to fight two-time ADCC Submission Wrestling World Champion and veteran of over 60 fights Jeff Monson in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on 2 February 2013, but the event
8000-425: The fight, Arlovski landed a career-best 4 takedowns, more than his entire career total up to that time (3) combined. Arlovski faced Tai Tuivasa at UFC 225 on 9 June 2018. He lost the fight via unanimous decision. Arlovski faced Shamil Abdurakhimov on 15 September 2018 at UFC Fight Night 136 . He lost the fight by unanimous decision. Arlovski faced Walt Harris on 29 December 2018 at UFC 232 . He lost
8125-499: The fight. Arlovski faced off against veteran of over 300 fights Travis Fulton at ProElite 2 in November, serving as the co-main event. Arlovski won the fight via head kick KO in the final second of the third round. It was a knockout that caused Fulton, who had never been knocked out, to regain consciousness about 5 minutes after the fight was stopped. Fulton later admitted to Arlovski in the locker room that he has never been hit that hard in all of his 300 bouts. In mid-July 2012, it
8250-410: The final round of the fight, ending Rothwell's 13 fight win streak and giving him his first defeat in over 3 years. Originally scheduled to face former UFC Heavyweight Champion and top-ranked heavyweight Josh Barnett in the main event at Affliction's second pay-per-view , Affliction: Day of Reckoning , on 11 October 2008, the event was rescheduled and Arlovski would instead be matched up against
8375-669: The first round at the Adrenaline IV main event on September 18, 2009, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was later revealed through Sherdog.com that Sylvia broke his right hand about a minute and a half into his fight with Riley, spoiling a debut with the Japanese promotion Dream , planned for October 25. Sylvia's next fight was expected to be a rematch with The Ultimate Fighter alumni Wes Sims on March, 20th in Ohio. However,
8500-468: The first round, Sylvia landed a left head kick which knocked out Telligman. Sylvia made his cable television debut next, fighting Assuério 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
8625-591: The first round, making Arlovski the new UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion. Arlovski went on to defend his interim title on 4 June 2005, at UFC 53 , against Justin Eilers . Arlovski won the bout by TKO in the first round. After the fight, it was revealed that Eilers had suffered extensive injuries, including a badly broken nose, two broken hands and a complete ACL tear. In October 2005, Arlovski once again defended his title at UFC 55 against top contender Paul Buentello . Arlovski knocked out Buentello in 15 seconds of
8750-579: The first televised use of the term. Since the late 1990s, both strikers and grapplers have been successful at MMA, although it is rare to see any fighter who is not schooled in both striking and grappling arts reach the highest levels of competition. MMA fighters are ranked according to their performance and outcome of their fights and level of competition they faced. The most popular and used, ranking portals are: Andrei Arlovski Andrei Arlovski ( Belarusian : Андрэй Валер’евіч Арлоўскі , romanized : Andrei Arlouski , born 4 February 1979)
8875-563: The form of rooftop fights. During the early 20th century, there was an influx of migrants from mainland China, including Chinese martial arts teachers who opened up martial arts schools in Hong Kong. In the mid-20th century, soaring crime in Hong Kong , combined with limited Hong Kong Police manpower, led to many young Hongkongers learning martial arts for self-defence . Around the 1960s, there were about 400 martial arts schools in Hong Kong, teaching their own distinctive styles of martial arts. In Hong Kong's street fighting culture, there emerged
9000-416: The fourth time the two fighters had faced each other. Sylvia and Arlovski faced off at ONE Fighting Championship: Pride of a Nation on August 31, 2012, in Manila . The fight between Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski ended in a no-contest due to an illegal soccer kick by Andrei Arlovski. According to ONE FC rules at the time, soccer kicks are legal only if the referee clears the fighter to do so after determining
9125-429: The ground with Silva unable to defend himself. This win also won Arlovski his first Performance of the Night bonus award. Arlovski faced Travis Browne on 23 May 2015, at UFC 187 . Despite being a heavy underdog and being knocked down in the first round, Arlovski stunned Browne multiple times throughout the opening minutes, and eventually won the fight via TKO in the first round. Post-fight, Joe Rogan revealed in
9250-548: The grounded fighter can still intelligently defend himself. Arlovski received no such clearance, the kick was deemed illegal. Four days later, One FC eliminated the clearance restriction. On May 31, 2013, Sylvia fought Tony Johnson at ONE FC 9: Rise to Power . Sylvia lost by TKO (doctor stoppage) in 3:25 of the third round. Sylvia fought Satoshi Ishii at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye and lost by unanimous decision. Sylvia fought Dagestan prospect Ruslan Magomedov at Fight Nights: Battle of Moscow 13 and lost by unanimous decision. Sylvia
9375-405: The historian E. Norman Gardiner, "No branch of athletics was more popular than the pankration." There is also evidence of similar mixed combat sports in ancient Egypt , India and Japan . The mid-19th century saw the prominence of the new sport savate in the combat sports circle. French savate fighters wanted to test their techniques against the traditional combat styles of its time. In 1852,
9500-401: 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
9625-706: The jurisdiction of the CSAC, rendering the vote meaningless. On September 30, 2000, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board (NJSACB) began allowing mixed martial arts promoters to conduct events in New Jersey. The first event was an IFC event titled Battleground 2000 held in Atlantic City. The intent was to allow the NJSACB to observe actual events and gather information to establish a comprehensive set of rules to regulate
9750-411: The kickboxing rules already accepted by most state athletic commissions. These modified kickboxing rules allowed for take downs and ground fighting and did away with rounds, although they did allow for fighters to be stood up by the referee and restarted if there was no action on the ground. These rules were the first in modern MMA to define fouls, fighting surfaces and the use of the cage. In March 1997,
9875-504: The last reigning IFL Heavyweight Champion Roy Nelson at EliteXC: Heat on 4 October 2008, in Sunrise, Florida in a co-promotion with EliteXC . Arlovski won the fight via KO in the second round and in the process became the only man to ever finish Nelson in his MMA career at that point. In January 2009, Arlovski faced the last reigning PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction: Day of Reckoning . Arlovski lost
10000-451: The late 1880s when wrestlers representing the style of catch wrestling and many others met in tournaments and music-hall challenge matches throughout Europe. In the US, the first major encounter between a boxer and a wrestler in modern times took place in 1887 when John L. Sullivan , then heavyweight world boxing champion, entered the ring with his trainer, wrestling champion William Muldoon , and
10125-468: The late 1960s to early 1970s, the concept of hybrid martial arts was popularized in the West by Bruce Lee via his system of Jeet Kune Do . Lee believed that "the best fighter is not a boxer, karate or judo man. The best fighter is someone who can adapt to any style, to be formless, to adopt an individual's own style and not following the system of styles." In 2004, UFC President Dana White would call Lee
10250-477: The main event of Friday night's HDNet-broadcast event, which took place at Memorial Hall in Kansas City, Kan. Wagner's speed advantage was evident in the opening seconds, and he looked to pepper Sylvia with strikes on multiple levels as he retreated and stayed away from his opponent's length. Then a right hand brought about the beginning of the end. Wagner caught Sylvia on the temple, and the former UFC champ
10375-428: The majority of the fight, causing the referee to inform them at the beginning of the third round that he would remove a point from the first fighter to retreat in that round. Although Arlovski won the fight by unanimous decision, many boos could be heard from the crowd. After the fight, Arlovski apologized to the fans for not fighting for the full fifteen minutes. After 11 months of inactivity, Arlovski made his return to
10500-602: The name "MMA" at the UFC 17 rules meeting in response to increased public criticism. The question as to who actually coined the name is still in debate. The first state-regulated MMA event was held in Biloxi, Mississippi on August 23, 1996, with the sanctioning of IFC's Mayhem in Mississippi show by the Mississippi Athletic Commission under William Lyons. The rules used were an adaptation of
10625-505: The necessary changes to get back on track. After several months of grueling training schedule in New Mexico with Greg Jackson and the likes of Jon Jones , Shane Carwin , and Travis Browne , Arlovski headlined ProElite 1 on 27 August at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu, Hawaii against heavyweight Ray Lopez. Arlovski won by TKO in the third round after dominating Lopez throughout
10750-454: 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
10875-485: The non-exclusive contracts of other organizations, and the opportunity to fight more often as his reasons for leaving. On March 28, 2008, Sylvia signed with Adrenaline MMA , formerly M-1 Global , to a two-year contract that allowed him to fight for other organizations while under contract with Adrenaline. A few weeks later he was offered to fight Fedor Emelianenko at Affliction Clothing 's inaugural event Affliction: Banned . The fight took place on July 19, 2008, and saw
11000-444: The octagon at UFC 82 and defeated Jake O'Brien by TKO in round two. It was O'Brien's first MMA loss and Arlovski's final fight on his UFC contract. After leaving the UFC, Arlovski signed with the newly created MMA-promotion Affliction and participated in their inaugural event Affliction: Banned on 19 July 2008. He fought and defeated top-ranked heavyweight fighter and former IFL heavyweight stand-out Ben Rothwell by KO in
11125-456: The opening round. On 12 August 2005, the UFC announced that it now recognized Arlovski as the undisputed heavyweight champion, as Frank Mir had not fully rehabilitated from his motorcycle accident. In a rematch with Tim Sylvia at UFC 59 on 15 April 2006, Arlovski knocked Sylvia down with a right-hand punch early in the first round. Sylvia was able to protect himself and recovered almost immediately. While Arlovski tried to finish Sylvia with
11250-485: The opponent is on the mat, kidney strikes, and striking the back of the head with closed fist. Holding onto the ring or cage for any reason was defined as a foul. While there are minor differences between these and the final Unified Rules, notably regarding elbow strikes, the Iowa rules allowed mixed martial arts promoters to conduct essentially modern events legally, anywhere in the state. On March 28, 1997, Extreme Fighting 4
11375-542: The original shoot style. Professional wrestlers Masakatsu Funaki and Minoru Suzuki founded Pancrase in 1993 which promoted legitimate contests initially under professional wrestling rules. These promotions inspired Pride Fighting Championships which started in 1997. Pride was acquired by its rival Ultimate Fighting Championship in 2007. A fight between Golden Gloves boxing champion Joey Hadley and Arkansas Karate Champion David Valovich happened on June 22, 1976, at Memphis Blues Baseball Park. The bout had mixed rules:
11500-527: The other, or even land any truly significant blows. In the end, Sylvia won the fight by unanimous decision . It was later discovered that during the fight, Arlovski had been significantly injured by a checked leg kick sometime in the second round which left him unable to throw kicks of his own or make any takedown attempts. When confronted by a reporter about the injury, Arlovski avoided responding directly and would only say "I do not want to talk about my injuries or look for any other excuses." Not too long after it
11625-564: The precursors of modern MMA are mixed style contests throughout Europe, Japan, and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. In Japan, these contests were known as merikan , from the Japanese slang for "American [fighting]". Merikan contests were fought under a variety of rules, including points decision, best of three throws or knockdowns, and victory via knockout or submission. Sambo , a martial art and combat sport developed in Russia in
11750-496: The referee intervened, he decided, because of Cruz's insistence, to allow both fighters to stay on the ground as opposed to standing them up, as is the general practice. Thereafter, Arlovski struck Cruz with a strong blow to the chin, then continued beating Cruz with hammer fists until the fight was stopped. Arlovski fought PRIDE veteran and two-time world Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu champion Fabrício Werdum at UFC 70 , winning by unanimous decision . Both fighters kept their distance for
11875-547: The sport at the time), hosted and reprinted the article. The first use of the term by a promotion was in September 1995 by Rick Blume, president and CEO of Battlecade Extreme Fighting, just after UFC 7. UFC official, Jeff Blatnick , was responsible for the Ultimate Fighting Championship officially adopting the name mixed martial arts. It was previously marketed as "Ultimate Fighting" and "No Holds Barred (NHB)", until Blatnick and John McCarthy proposed
12000-469: The sport effectively. On April 3, 2001, the NJSACB held a meeting to discuss the regulation of mixed martial arts events. This meeting attempted to unify the myriad rules and regulations which had been utilized by the different mixed martial arts organizations. At this meeting, the proposed uniform rules were agreed upon by the NJSACB, several other regulatory bodies, numerous promoters of mixed martial arts events and other interested parties in attendance. At
12125-438: The sport in the late 1990s he was the prototype – he could strike with the best strikers; he could grapple with the best grapplers; his endurance was second to none. " — Mike Sloan describing UFC champion Frank Shamrock 's early dominance The high profile of modern MMA promotions such as UFC and Pride has fostered an accelerated development of the sport. The early 1990s saw a wide variety of traditional styles competing in
12250-482: The sport. Following these changes, the sport has seen increased popularity with a pay-per-view business that rivals boxing and professional wrestling . In ancient China , combat sport appeared in the form of Leitai , a no-holds-barred mixed combat sport that combined Chinese martial arts , boxing and wrestling. In ancient Greece , there was a sport called pankration , which featured grappling and striking skills similar to those found in modern MMA. Pankration
12375-483: The sport. However, early competition saw varying levels of success among disparate styles. In the early 1990s, practitioners of grappling based styles such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu dominated competition in the United States. Practitioners of striking based arts such as boxing , kickboxing , and karate , who were unfamiliar with submission grappling, proved to be unprepared to deal with its submission techniques . As competitions became more and more common, those with
12500-422: The spot as number one contender for the heavyweight championship belt. On February 2, 2008, Sylvia lost via guillotine choke to Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 in Las Vegas for the interim heavyweight championship. 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 ,
12625-401: The technique of "ground and pound" developed by wrestling-based UFC pioneers such as Dan Severn , Don Frye and Mark Coleman . These wrestlers realized the need for the incorporation of strikes on the ground as well as on the feet, and incorporated ground striking into their grappling-based styles. Mark Coleman stated at UFC 14 that his strategy was to "Ground him and pound him", which may be
12750-417: 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
12875-666: The world. MMA gyms serve as specialized training centers where fighters develop their skills across various martial arts disciplines, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, Muay Thai, and boxing. These gyms provide structured environments for athletes to prepare for competition, offering coaching, sparring, and conditioning programs. Certain gyms, such as the UFC Performance Institute offer facilities like cryotherapy chambers , underwater treadmills , and DEXA machines. The following are popular MMA gyms along with notable fighters that have trained out of them. As
13000-528: Was Bartitsu , which Edward William Barton-Wright founded in London in 1899. Combining catch wrestling , judo , boxing , savate , jujutsu and canne de combat (French stick fighting), Bartitsu was the first martial art known to have combined Asian and European fighting styles, and which saw MMA-style contests throughout England, pitting European catch wrestlers and Japanese judoka champions against representatives of various European wrestling styles. Among
13125-446: Was Kimura vs. Gracie in 1951. In mid-20th century Hong Kong , rooftop street fighting contests between different martial arts styles gave rise to Bruce Lee 's hybrid martial arts style Jeet Kune Do . Another precursor to modern MMA was the 1976 Ali vs. Inoki exhibition bout, fought between boxer Muhammad Ali and wrestler Antonio Inoki in Japan, where it later inspired the foundation of Shooto in 1985, Pancrase in 1993, and
13250-426: Was announced that Arlovski had signed with the Asia-based promotion ONE Fighting Championship . Originally Arlvoski was scheduled to fight Soa Palelei but Soa Palelei was later replaced with Tim Sylvia. The promotion quickly announced that Arlovski would face Tim Sylvia in his debut, marking the fourth time the two fighters had faced each other. Arlovski and Sylvia faced off at ONE Fighting Championship: Pride of
13375-427: Was best, began testing each other in their respective arts of kenpo, jujitsu, Chinese and American boxing and tang soo do . From this they developed kajukenbo , the first American mixed martial arts. In 1951, a high-profile grappling match was Masahiko Kimura vs. Hélio Gracie , which was wrestled between judoka Masahiko Kimura and Brazilian jiu jitsu founder Hélio Gracie in Brazil. Kimura defeated Gracie using
13500-541: 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 ,
13625-473: Was born in Babruisk , Byelorussian SSR , Soviet Union (now Belarus ). When he was younger, bullies often picked on him and beat him up. In 1994, when he was 14 years old, he had finally had enough and started lifting weights to put on muscle and, he hoped, to help him deal with these bullies. Arlovski took up martial arts at the age of 16 in sports such as Sambo , Judo and Kickboxing . Enrolling at
13750-412: Was finding it increasingly difficult to get fights in Thailand as his weight (70 kg) was not typical for Thailand, where competitive bouts tended to be at the lower weights. Roufus knocked Changpuek down twice with punches in the first round, breaking Changpuek's jaw, but lost by technical knockout in the fourth round due to the culmination of low kicks to the legs that he was unprepared for. This match
13875-468: Was formed by combining the already established wrestling and boxing traditions and, in Olympic terms, first featured in the 33rd Olympiad in 648 BC. All strikes and holds were allowed with the exception of biting and gouging, which were banned. The fighters, called pankratiasts, fought until someone could not continue or signaled submission by raising their index finger; there were no rounds. According to
14000-691: Was held under these rules, making it the first show conducted under a version of the modern rules. In April 2000, the California State Athletic Commission voted unanimously in favor of regulations that later became the foundation for the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts . However, when the legislation was sent to the California capital in Sacramento for review, it was determined that the sport fell outside
14125-477: Was knocked out by elbows. The Japanese fighter who lost, Kenji Kurosaki, was a kyokushin instructor, rather than a contender, and that he had stood in as a substitute for the absent chosen fighter. In June of the same year, karateka and future kickboxer Tadashi Sawamura faced top Thai fighter Samarn Sor Adisorn: Sawamura was knocked down sixteen times on his way to defeat. Sawamura went on to incorporate what he learned in that fight in kickboxing tournaments. During
14250-692: Was originally scheduled to face Shayne Adams (1–2) on August 13 at a Fight Tour event at the Rockford Metro Centre in Rockford, Illinois. But due to a scheduling conflict with the athletic commission the event will now take place on August 20. Sylvia was then scheduled to face Brian Heden at the August 20 Fight Tour event because the Illinois Athletic Commission would not approve the fight between Adams and Sylvia. However
14375-407: Was postponed. Arlovski fought Andreas Kraniotakes at Fight Nights - Battle in Minsk on 29 November 2013, and Arlovski won the fight via TKO in the second round. On 24 April 2014, it was confirmed by multiple MMA media websites that Arlovski had been granted his release from WSOF to return to UFC . The former heavyweight champion fought Brendan Schaub at UFC 174 on 14 June 2014. Arlovski
14500-604: Was promoted to a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu on October 31, 2011. 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
14625-423: Was reintroduced to the United States by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). UFC promoters initially pitched the event as a real-life fighting video game tournament similar to Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat . The sport gained international exposure and widespread publicity when jiu-jitsu fighter Royce Gracie won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship tournament, submitting three challengers in
14750-422: Was revealed Sylvia had sustained an injury as he fainted at his hotel room and upon hospital examination, doctors discovered a concussion. Arlovski made his next appearance on 30 December 2006, at UFC 66 against Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Márcio Cruz . After being taken down, he kicked Cruz in the shoulder (which is legal), but it was mistaken for a head kick (which is illegal) by referee Herb Dean. When
14875-515: Was scheduled to face Juliano Coutinho at Reality Fighting on January 3, 2015, however, he was denied medical clearance by the Mohegan Athletic Unit, and as a result the fight was cancelled. Sylvia weighed in at 371 pounds for the fight. When asked why the fight was cancelled Monte Cox, Sylvia's manager, wrote on Facebook “Not 100 [percent] sure... because of his age he had to do a lot of meds at last minute,” Cox wrote. “In all he needed
15000-498: Was scuttled again (as well as another against UFC veteran Pedro Rizzo ), when it was discovered that Sylvia broke his foot at Moosin. Sylvia defeated Paul Buentello by Knockout due to an uppercut at Powerhouse World Promotions: War on the Mainland on August 14. As heavyweight fighter Pedro Rizzo entered the ring during the post fight interview, Powerhouse World Promotions announced Sylvia would make his first title defense against
15125-679: Was slammed to the mat in two minutes. The next publicized encounter occurred in the late 1890s when future heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons took on European wrestling champion Ernest Roeber . In September 1901, Frank "Paddy" Slavin , who had been a contender for Sullivan's boxing title, knocked out future world wrestling champion Frank Gotch in Dawson City , Canada. The judo-practitioner Ren-nierand, who gained fame after defeating George Dubois, would fight again in another similar contest, which he lost to Ukrainian Catch wrestler Ivan Poddubny. Another early example of mixed martial arts
15250-533: 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
15375-421: Was the first popular fight which showcased the power of such low kicks to a predominantly Western audience. The movement that led to the creation of present-day mixed martial arts scenes emerged from a confluence of several earlier martial arts scenes: the vale tudo events in Brazil, rooftop fights in Hong Kong's street fighting culture, and professional wrestlers , especially in Japan . Vale tudo began in
15500-419: Was victorious in his return to the UFC, defeating Schaub via split decision (28–29, 29–28, and 29–28). It was announced that Arlovski would be facing Antônio Silva in a rematch on 13 September 2014, at UFC Fight Night 51 . Despite being a heavy betting underdog, Arlovski won the fight via knockout in the first round, after landing two consecutive right hands that dropped Silva and subsequent hammer fists on
15625-504: Was visibly staggered. As "The Maine-iac" tried to recover, Wagner went on the assault with jackhammer punches that chased Sylvia across the cage. Sylvia avoided the shots as he retreated, but once he reached the cage, Wagner landed a four-punch combination that saw his opponent slump to the canvas. Referee Jason Herzog wasted little time in rushing in to call the fight, and the decision was justified when Sylvia stumbled as he returned to his feet. The entire process took just 32 seconds. Sylvia
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