BWAHA! Tim gets KTFO!!!!!! He will never live this down. Tim is done in MMA. Check the video here.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/6/14/908828/adrenaline-iii-ray-mercer-vs-tim

So......does this put Ray Mercer in the top 10 MMA heavyweights now? LOL

Was that the entire fight? Wow. Well, it wasn't really fair to Tim....he didn't seem to have NEARLY the size advantage going for him in this fight from what I could tell.

Perhaps all of his opponents should move down a division.

What was he doing???! He looked like he was trying to stand off and box... against a boxer!!! I believe Sylvia is known for his striking, but why did he think he could outbox Merc? Sure Merc may have seen better days, but he was still a World Champion Boxer and an Olympic Golf medalist. That was a poor strategy big Tim adopted.

I don't know if Tim has the greatest takedown skills. He may not exactly be the brightest guy either. I never recall him having the greatest ground game. But that again comes back to your mindset and what you choose to work on. As Tim has almost always been bigger than everyone he's faced, he's probably seen no real reason to develop a multi-dimensional skill-set.

Good grief

Tim's head movement and footwork were comparable to mine in that fight, and I would expect to be KO'd in 10 seconds flat by Mercer too. The difference being I am a chump who plays at kickboxing and Sylvia is (was) a successful professional fighter.

If that is all the spring he can put in his step for a payday, he had better re-think the pro boxing plan fast.

I used to really like him - he really seemed to improve with every fight - like he had been working on stuff. These days he just turns up, looks confused for 8 seconds and then eats canvas.

I can no longer act as his apologist, but its a damn shame, because he has all the tools, some of the talent, but appears to have lost the taste.

Very good point Cord re pro boxing. Do you think that Sylvia took this fight to "launch" himself in to pro boxing? Mercer is a name boxing fans would know, so it could've helped promote Sylvia in boxing had he beaten him.

I found this:
http://www.fightline.com/news/mma/2009/0326/397236/tim_sylvia/index.shtml

Basically, the New Jersey State Athletic Commision wouldn't sanction the bout under Boxing Rules. I couldn't find out why, but I am guessing because it was due to Sylvias lack of pro boxing experience and/or Mercers age (he is 48, thats right, 48!). So the bout had to be carried out under MMA rules. It still couldn't get the go ahead in New Jersey, so it was moved (to Alabama??).

I am wondering if Sylvia was trying to "box" as this was originally scheduled as a boxing match, but it had to be done under MMA rules. As he was perhaps using this to springboard in to boxing, was he reluctant to use any other skills (if he had any) as he wanted to win by boxing, to show he could cut it as a boxer? If that is so, talk about a plan backfiring!

That said, given what appears to be a SERIOUS lack of boxing ability on Sylvias part, he would be well advised to re-think enter pro boxing. The money is only good if you are decent lol!

Sidenote: I meant "GOLD" medal in my last post, not "GOLF" medal!

Prize -

As I understand it, you are correct. It was supposed to be a boxing match, but the ABA wouldn't sanction it. So Mercer (rather boldy) accepted it as a MMA match. Looks like it worked out for him!

In a related note, I think this also calls into question Fedor Emalienenko's presumed dominace as a heavyweight. Note that his last 2 opponents (Sylvia and Andre Arlovski) were thoroughly demolished by what was considered to be far inferior competition. Makes me wonder if his avoidance of the UFC has more to do with than just money.

errr...I really don't see how that fight calls Fedor's record into question? Sorry, but if you knew anything about Fedor you would know that he wouldn't be scared to fight any one in UFC...would love to see him fight in it though!

Well, I don't think he's scared, exactly. Again, all I'm saying is that some people want to minimize the UFC fighters as not that good, or irrelevant. But the track record of dominant fighters coming from other orgs like PRIDE (Nog, Wanderlei, Cro Cop) hasn't always been all that dominant when they got to the UFC.

That said, Fedor has certainly fought some tough guys, and the Barnett fight will be another valid one. I just don't agree with the undisputed best heavyweight title with him never having fought in THE BIGGEST MMA org.