Tim Sylvia

By FCF Staff

Unlike several UFC veterans, Tim Sylvia never returned to the Octagon after he left the promotion in 2008, and the former heavyweight champ claims it’s because Dana White holds a “grudge”.

Sylvia exited from the promotion not long after he was submitted by Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in February, 2008, in a bout that was for the interim heavyweight title. Sylvia ended up signing with Affliction a few months later, and was tapped out by Fedor Emelianenko.

There were reports and rumors in recent years that the massive heavyweight might return to the UFC,  but, it never happened.

Recently the 41 year-old appeared on Chael Sonnen’s podcast, and Sylvia discussed his split from the UFC. According to Sylvia, when he had one fight left on his UFC contract, he asked to fight Brock Lesnar. Sylvia was angered by the fact that Lesnar was making much more than him, despite the fact the latter was a relative newcomer to MMA, while he was a former champ. Sylvia says he asked for the same compensation.

The UFC had other plans, however, and Sylvia ended up signing with Affliction. The short lived promotion ended up paying Sylvia $800,000 for his bout with Emelianenko.

Then, while talking about why he never returned to the UFC, Sylvia stated this (quote via MMA Fighting.com):

“You know Dana White,” said Sylvia. “He’s just a f***ing d**k. He’s just holding a grudge. They’re pissed off because I went to support Affliction. I was sponsored by them for three years before that fight. Dana’s just a d**k. He holds grudges. They blackballedAndrei Arlovski, as well, but he was smart, went to a good camp, started picking and choosing who he fought and put eight or ten wins together. They had no choice but to bring him back to the UFC.”

“The Maine-iac” ended up going 7-6, with 1 no contest, outside of the UFC. Sylvia hasn’t fought since 2013 when he was decisioned by Ruslan Magomedov, while competing for Fight Nights.