"Ricco's best victory was over a very undersized Randy Couture"
id say his greatest win was over nogueira, too bad pride robbed him
"Tim went the distance and had a close fight with Ausserio Silva"
did you see the fight? it wasnt close in the slightest
LMAO @ a. emilanenko and yoshida beating tim... you are truly a clueless hater
How would Tim beat Aleks?
And yeah I saw the fight with Ausserio Silva, it went the distance and Ausserio was never even close to being KO'd.
Using Pride rules and Pride scoring Minotauro beat Ricco. Minotauro attempted the finish the fight while Ricco attempted to stall.
Why do you use personal insults in every post? Chill out and learn to talk like a human being.
Yeah, how would Tim beat Aleks? I could see Tim beating Thompson and possibly Yoshida, but his stand up is way overrated. I cant see him beating likes of Fedor, Nog, Crocop, Hunt, Barnett, Sergei and Aleks.
Can you imagine Barnett returning to the UFC? He'd be champion like within two PPVs.
Silvia has heart, I'll give him that.
Tim loses to Fedor, Mino, Hunt, and CroCop, and beats the rest of the GP field, IMO.
LOL @ Werdum outboxing Sylvia. Fabricio can be an effective striker when he gets aggressive, but he is very raw. He would have trouble with Tim's reach (as anyone would) and Tim would have a field day countering his shots. Tim's striking is much more technically sound than people give him credit for.
As for the ground game, of course Werdum would have a huge advantage, but I doubt it would ever go there.
Very close fight, but I think Tim wins by decision or late TKO, depending on how Werdum holds up to a slow, methodical beating.
"The fact that Arlovski dropped him twice within the first couple of minutes because of the technical errors in Tim's style is proof that that's not the case."
Very few strikers in MMA have the combination of speed, power, and technique that Arlovski does.
"Werdum has fucked up guys like Erikson (who beat Nortje - a better 'Giant Striker' than Sylvia - in K-1), Braga and Gonzaga with his striking"
LOL at Nortje being better than Tim. Have you seen Nortje in the ring? He is absolute garbage. Gonzaga's striking is very mediocre. Braga is the only one worth mentioning, and he is a natural LHW and way past prime.
Only an idiot would say either guy would "destroy" the other. Of course, JK the super-troll can't possibly talk about a Pride vs. UFC matchup without using an embarassing amount of exaggeration and hyperbole.
Sylvia/Werdum = A tougher, closer version of Sylvia/Silva
"Tim Sylvia is the best Heavyweight in the UFC."
I disagree
It's entirely possible that I said I'd favor Werdum over Sylvia in a previous thread, most likely last year when Tim's career was in rebuilding mode. It is possible to change your mind, I'd think someone named "John Kerry" would know this.
After watching Tim's last few fights, I simply think that he has become good enough at stuffing attempts at bringing the fight to the ground and using his reach to frustrate Werdum and take a decision. Maybe the betting line would be slightly in Werdum's favor but I tend to think Sylvia would have a slight advantage.
Please, I don't put much value in the UFC championship, or any championship for that matter. I'm not a huge Sylvia fan and I favor Arlovski in the rubber match.
Werdum has shown plenty over his last few fights but remember, STYLES MAKE FIGHTS. Tim is tough as hell to take down and he has good technical striking skills. This makes him a tough matchup for Werdum. Ausserio Silva is no world-beater but he fought a similar fight to what I think Werdum would try against Tim and I believe Sylvia/Silva showed the template for how Tim could grind out a decision against Werdum. I'm not saying it would be easy, I'm just saying I think Tim would have a slight edge.
Silva's striking is not really "far worse" than Werdum's. He is a decent striker, but clearly would have rather had Tim on the ground. That's where the comparison stems from. He had the same plan against Tim as Werdum would have. I don't think Werdum's takedowns are that much better, and his striking is a little better but it's not worlds apart. Werdum would provide a much tougher fight but the gameplan would be the same.
"Assuerio is probably one of the only guys Sylvia's fought that Tim knows he can probably avoid getting submitted by, something he'd be shit scared of against Werdum. Again, ridiculous comparison."
I wouldn't say this at all. He was definitely scared of being taken down and submitted by Silva. He executed his gameplan anyway.
Werdum is a decorated BJJ athlete and has done extremely well in ADCC. Ausserio Silva has poor-mediocre ground skills and an above average stand up game, with excellent physical strength who has been focusing on full contact karate as of recently.
He is nothing like Werdum, who is a jiu jutsu expert, a better natural athlete and more of a finesse fighter who has excellent power thanks to natural talent and extensive training with Cro Cop. Comparing the two is ridiculous as they are different in styles, body type, methods of fighting, weaknesses, etc.
Look at Sylvia/Mir for an example of how skilled Tim is at defending submissions on the ground. To escape the armbar he was going to try some caveman type slam. Werdum would submit Sylvia and have little trouble on the feet imo.
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lennysir-
When Aleks fought Ausserio, Aleks was making his MMA debut. It was Aleks first fight and Ausserio's 16th or so. Aleks has lost a lot of weight and gained a lot of skills since then.
Tim didn't show a good chin he showed a good ability to recover. Fedor stood with Cro Cop, standing with TIm won't be a problem.
"Look at Sylvia/Mir for an example of how skilled Tim is at defending submissions on the ground. To escape the armbar he was going to try some caveman type slam. Werdum would submit Sylvia and have little trouble on the feet imo."
Perhaps you missed the part where I clearly said Werdum would dominate on the ground, but that I don't think Tim would let it get there. You act like I said Tim's ground game is awesome or something. Try reading next time, numbnut.
As for "little trouble on the feet", you are simply delusional. Werdum is a good but unpolished striker. The standup battle would be very tough for both men. Werdum's speed and aggression versus Tim's power and technique.
Fedor has better takedowns, takedown defense, submissions, submission defense, and striking than Tim Sylvia. I have never seen someone here seriously think Sylvia would beat Fedor.
As far as Cro Cop, considering Cro Cop's sprawl is so good that Mark Coleman couldn't take him down, Tim would have no choice but to stand with Mirko, and if you think Sylvia would outstrike Cro Cop because he KO'd Arlovski and Tra Telligman then you are delusional.
"Fabricio would totally outbox Tim "Slowest Handspeed in MMA""
And yet Tim managed to tag Arlovski "Best footwork and head movement in MMA" several times even before the KO punch (which I'm sure you dismiss as flukey or entirely dependent on Arlovski's over-zealousness in going for the finish). He also nailed Telligman a billion times, and Telligman is certainly a far better boxer than Fabricio "Spent 20 minutes buttscooting against a sick, injured Kharitonov rather than stand" Werdum.
I think Sylvia will probably win the rematch against Arlovski, but Andrei is very fast (faster by far than any Pride HW with the possible exceptions of Fedor and Crocop) and hits very hard (ditto), so anything's possible.
"And is also absolutely ZERO threat on the ground. See Cro-Cop/Randleman I if you haven't yet learned about this interesting aspect of MMA."
Fabricio, regardless of his ground skills, is almost zero threat to Tim on the feet and would likely have no more luck taking Tim down than Ricco did (Ricco being a far better wrestler than Werdum). He couldn't take down the sick, injured Sergei who does not have Tim's reach, power, or possibly takedown defense (though he does have more speed).
I just don't get the Sylvia hate. Yes, he is not a joy to watch in the ring. But the effectiveness of his (admittedly often ugly) style is inarguable.
He crushed prime Ricco, a great groundfighter, excellent wrestler, and okay standup fighter; he demolished Gan far easier than Schilt did (and of course Sylvia/Gan was night and day compared to other formerly-top Pride heavy Herring's fight with McGee); and he KTFO of Arlovski who is way faster than any but the two best in Pride. He throws straight punches, hits very hard, has a great chin, and trains with a phenomenal wrestling team who have most likely got his takedown defense where it needs to be.
These post's are retarded. They're based solely on speculation. Tim Sylvia is a dangerous opponent for anyone of those guys. The guy has only lost twice in his career, oh yeah, and is the current UFC heavyweight champ. If you think he cant hang with Cro-Cop, Fedor, etc, your wrong. Tim would have a good chance against any of those guys. Tims always improving, and working on all aspects of his game. Nobody is invincible, not even Fedor.
Give the man some fucken credit for once.