If you were like me this week, you were breathing a sigh of relief when the heavyweight fight between Tim Sylvia and Wes Sims for Adrenaline MMA V in Youngstown, Ohio was cancelled.
Bernie Profato, the Ohio Athletic Commission executive director ruled the bout “non-competitive” and informed Adrenaline promoter Monte Cox that it would not be sanctioned. I salute Bernie with a golf clap. Most commissions would look the other way and let this kind of fight happen, but not the Buckeye State. They did their research, and they knew this wasn’t going to be pretty.
Sylvia confirmed the news on his twitter account:
Damm u guys know more about me then I do they said he sucks. So I can’t fight him cause it’s a mismatch.
While it can certainly be argued that neither fighter has taken MMAt as seriously as they should have in the past few years, Sylvia has at least remained competitive in the sport. Ignoring each other’s recent record and comparing recent opponents, it is obvious who has been fighting at a top level and who has been doing the local circuit.
Sylvia has fought a who’s who of top MMA heavyweights recently in Randy Couture, Fedor Emelianenko, Branden Vera and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Wes Sims? Tell me if you’ve ever heard of William Clifford, Jason DeAngelo or Clifford Coon? Sims talked his way onto season 10 of The Ultimate Fighter only to clown around and get submitted in his first fight against Justin Wren. Most recently, Sims was a last second replacement to face upcoming prospect Bobby Lashley and he was absolutely crushed in a fight that he looked terribly out of shape and probably never should have participated in.
Sims’ appearance in his recent Strikeforce fight was proof enough that he didn’t belong in the ring with a 2 time UFC heavyweight champion, but how about the most compelling evidence of all? Sylvia already faced Sims back in 2004 (when Sims was actually still slightly competitive) and he CRUSHED him via TKO 1:31 into the first round. I don’t care how much crap Sims talked about Sylvia after that fight, there was absolutely no reason to ever have a rematch.
It is expected that both fighters will remain on the fight card, but at least now their bouts will be against fighters more on their level. Sylvia is expected to face UFC veteran Branden Lee Hinkle while Sims looks to square off against TUF season 2 veteran Kerry Schall (22-11).
