Where does Tim Sylvia rank?

[TheBradyHawkes]

Amongst all time Heavyweights in MMA. As much as a joke as he's become, the man put together some nice wins before 2008.

Where does he stack up amongst his peers?

[rusty nails]

ive been thinking about this alot lately and im having a hard time with it.
i can remember when big tim was genuinely considered unbeatable.
people will deny it now and claim how "real" fans knew he was nothing special but the reality is he was once talked about in the same widespread reverance that people use with fedor these days.
but getting back to the point, like i said im having a tough time ranking him.
hes somewhere between heavyweight gatekeeper and legitimate contender i believe.

[codeman99998]

Top 20 all time HW no doubt.

Top 10? You have to rate him over Arlovski, I think. Fedor, Crocop, Randy, Nog, Mir, and Barnett are clearly ahead of him...

I think he is a lower top 10 all time heavyweight, but I haven't sat down to REALLY think about it. I mean, he beat Vera, 2-1 with Arlovski, he beat Rothwell and Whitehead earlier in his career. He beat Ricco...

[jimmie]

Tim has some accomplishments no doubt about it hes a legit 2 time UFC Heavyweight Champion and has a resume stacked with good wins. My all-time Heavyweight rankings leading up to him would go something like.

1. Fedor Emelianenko
2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
3. Mirko Cro Cop
4. Josh Barnett
5. Randy Couture
6. Frank Mir

Number 7 would be Tim Sylvia only recently has Mir surpassed him although Mir beat him in 04 it was until his 3 most recent wins over Brock, Nog and Kongo that gave him a deeper resume.

[chimba]

Top 10 no doubt

[Polymath]

Best of a mini era (in the UFC) - hard to rate against the best because he was in such a weak division, but top 10 isn't too controversial.

[Mazallan]

He is a top 15 ATG right now and definetly has an argument of him at his prime being top 10.

[Rattler]

He'll be remembered as the Larry Holmes of MMA. A legitimate champion who was so boring and had the hard luck of coming along at a time when greater champions at other weights stole his thunder to the point that it's held against him.

[196osh]

He'll be remembered as the Larry Holmes of MMA.

:lol:

A bit harsh on Larry.

[sugarngold]

At the very bottom IE: not on the list.

[Strike]

I always thought Sylvia was pretty shit. I'm no expert on MMA but if he is top 10 it is a sorry reflection of the sport.
He got smashed by Arlovski with ease in one fight, and in the one he won by KO it was careless from Arlovski as he had Tim pretty much out of there again.

He was sparked inside 10 seconds by fucking Grandad Mercer. I missed his rise so perhaps that's when he looked unbeatable but most times he has stepped up to the top tier he has lost. Mir, Nog, Couture...I exclude Fedor because everyone loses to him so it's not really a criticism.

[Chucky]

He sucks

[jimmie]

He sucks

So how many UFC Championships you got hanging in your trophy case :huh

[codeman99998]

Saying Sylvia doesn't belong in the top 10 or 20 ATG HW is like saying John Ruiz and Nicolai Valuev don't belong in the top 20 for current boxing ratings. Also, Tim being in the top 10 isn't really any knock on the talent of MMA. He presented very real problems in a MMA match and MMA doesn't have a 100+ year old recorded history and matchmaking structure like boxing. Every all time great MMA fighter has fought in the last 20 years. Nearly every ATG MMA fighter has fought in the last 5 or 6.

[achillesthegreat]

He gets ranked where he does cos MMA is still young. Only now are we entering new generations but Couture, Coleman and Belfort are still around. You can't really rank all time until the division gets deeper in history.

The truth is, we know as soon as a generation or two go by, he'll progressively get ranked lower cos he isn't that great. I think he overachieved and for that he gets credit. He is tough too. Fucking arm got broke and he wanted to keep going. I respect that.

[sugarngold]

Sylvia was only ever UFC champion because all of the quality heavyweights were in Pride at the time. He's a scrub. Never deserved the belt and only held onto it because his physical dimensions allowed him to remain standing through fight after boring fight. If Mir hadn't suffered that motorcycle accident - Sylvia never would have regained the belt and wouldn't even be mentioned in this conversation.

[Chucky]

So how many UFC Championships you got hanging in your trophy case :huh

Shut your face

[Chucky]

Sylvia was only ever UFC champion because all of the quality heavyweights were in Pride at the time. He's a scrub. Never deserved the belt and only held onto it because his physical dimensions allowed him to remain standing through fight after boring fight. If Mir hadn't suffered that motorcycle accident - Sylvia never would have regained the belt and wouldn't even be mentioned in this conversation.


Perfectly stated

[WiDDoW_MaKeR]

I don't rank Sylvia at all... to be honest.

[Beebs]

Sylvia was only ever UFC champion because all of the quality heavyweights were in Pride at the time. He's a scrub. Never deserved the belt and only held onto it because his physical dimensions allowed him to remain standing through fight after boring fight. If Mir hadn't suffered that motorcycle accident - Sylvia never would have regained the belt and wouldn't even be mentioned in this conversation.

If you don't count Ricco as one of the best HW's in the world at the time that Sylvia beat him, you are either an idiot or new to the sport; Ricco could have easily gotten the decision in the fight vs Nog.

[jimmie]

If you don't count Ricco as one of the best HW's in the world at the time that Sylvia beat him, you are either an idiot or new to the sport; Ricco could have easily gotten the decision in the fight vs Nog.

Agreed you have to look at Ricco's tear at the time he had defeated TK, Monson, Bunetello, Arlovski, Couture and Williams leading up to Sylvia then IMO got screwed in the Nogueira fight a couple months later.

[sugarngold]

If you don't count Ricco as one of the best HW's in the world at the time that Sylvia beat him, you are either an idiot or new to the sport; Ricco could have easily gotten the decision in the fight vs Nog.

No need to be a snide ass about it, Beebs. Ricco was a top heavyweight when Sylvia beat him.. I'll concede that point - but Ricco also fell off after that fight and never fought at the top level again. I don't rate Sylvia high you can have him at your damn number one for all I care but he's a fucking scrub that only made his way to the top because of his physical dimensions.

[jimmie]

No need to be a snide ass about it, Beebs. Ricco was a top heavyweight when Sylvia beat him.. I'll concede that point - but Ricco also fell off after that fight and never fought at the top level again. I don't rate Sylvia high you can have him at your damn number one for all I care but he's a fucking scrub that only made his way to the top because of his physical dimensions.

Oh please is his physical dimensions is all he had then fucking Bob Saap and Hong Man Choi would be kicking asses. Tim developed decent takedown defense and decent boxing skills from working his ass off at Miletich and made a good career for himself.

[sugarngold]

Well if Hong Man Choi or Bob Sapp fought in the UFC while all the heavyweights were in Pride then they would have been champion as well.

[jimmie]

Well if Hong Man Choi or Bob Sapp fought in the UFC while all the heavyweights were in Pride then they would have been champion as well.

Yeah cause Choi or Sapp would beat Arlovski, Ricco, Monson :patsch

[sugarngold]

Probably so. Especially the Bob sapp of that 2001 - 2003 era. You think Arlovski's chin would have taken one punch from him? No way.

I don't know why you guys are on a Tim Sylvia love-in here - but I hated him when he was champ, hated every PPV he was a part of and can't stand him now - so I'm not changing my opinion on him any time soon. He was a perfect example of a guy that won fights by being bigger than his opponent. He knew how to jab well enough to beat scrubs like Cabbage and Gan McGee - and he could sprawl his legs out enough to prevent smaller grapplers from taking him down - but he never won impressively - except for his one fight against Rodriguez who never realized his own full potential because he was too busy partying all the time.

[codeman99998]

I don't know why you guys are on a Tim Sylvia love-in here - but I hated him when he was champ, hated every PPV he was a part of and can't stand him now -

Yes. That is the point. You are letting emotions, your feelings about him, get in the way of an unbiased ranking.

[rusty nails]

Probably so. Especially the Bob sapp of that 2001 - 2003 era. You think Arlovski's chin would have taken one punch from him? No way.

I don't know why you guys are on a Tim Sylvia love-in here - but I hated him when he was champ, hated every PPV he was a part of and can't stand him now - so I'm not changing my opinion on him any time soon. He was a perfect example of a guy that won fights by being bigger than his opponent. He knew how to jab well enough to beat scrubs like Cabbage and Gan McGee - and he could sprawl his legs out enough to prevent smaller grapplers from taking him down - but he never won impressively - except for his one fight against Rodriguez who never realized his own full potential because he was too busy partying all the time.

theres a difference between hating him and respecting his achievements.
id rather watch paint dry than see sylvia fight and i agree that he only won due in large part to his sheer size but at the end of the day he still won and if you measure him strictly on his merits its pretty illogical to call him a bum

[sugarngold]

Yes. That is the point. You are letting emotions, your feelings about him, get in the way of an unbiased ranking.

I agree.

[achillesthegreat]

I see a bit too much hatred for Tim here. I don't really rank him as a fighter but he is not a bum. His record speaks for itself. He beat an era of top contenders but the stars like Nog, Couture and Mercer have his number. :-)

[amhlilhaus]

The truth is, we know as soon as a generation or two go by, he'll progressively get ranked lower cos he isn't that great. I think he overachieved and for that he gets credit. He is tough too. Fucking arm got broke and he wanted to keep going. I respect that.

correct answer, both his forearm bones broke and he was like 'what?'

[socrates]

the AA fights were duds,the monson fight a miss match,couture and mir exposed his many flaws! he has good wins but relied heavily on his size and akwardness! awful fighter but solid achievements! all i can say about him.

[Beebs]

No need to be a snide ass about it, Beebs. Ricco was a top heavyweight when Sylvia beat him.. I'll concede that point - but Ricco also fell off after that fight and never fought at the top level again. I don't rate Sylvia high you can have him at your damn number one for all I care but he's a fucking scrub that only made his way to the top because of his physical dimensions.

I'm not disagreeing about Syvlia as a whole, but he has beaten some absolutely legit HW's. He beat the best version of Arlovski as well, once in an exciting fight and once in one of the worst fights on record.

[Fatal Rose]

As much as I dislike the guy's fighting style I still have to give him his due. Everyone pretty much gave good reasons as to why he belongs in the lower parts of the top ten right now. Anyone remember Joe Rogan's commentary after TIMMEH KOed Gan McGee? Pretty hilarious.