Tim Sylvia has had a lot on his plate these past few years, dealing with his serious injury and other controversial issues that almost jeopardized his mixed martial arts career.  As the former UFC heavyweight champion heads back to the Octagon, he brings with him a sense of maturity and wisdom he has gained from his experiences in the past that will hopefully boost his morale when he goes up against his undefeated contender Brandon Vera at UFC 77.

As he makes his comeback, Sylvia recounts some of the regrettable decisions he made in his life that put not only his career at risk but his own health as well.

With a professional record of 23 wins and three losses, Sylvia was cursed with three bulging discs in his back but did what most fighters would do when faced with pain.  He fought through it, telling himself that surgery could wait.  After his victory over Ricco Rodriguez in 2003, he defended his belt once before being stripped of his title after a positive test for banned substance subsequent to his win over Gan McGee.  His arm was broken in his fight against Frank Mir and after taking on several other contenders, including Tra Telligman, Assuerio Silva, Andrei Arlovski, Jeff Monson and Randy Couture, in which he lost via unanimous decision, the surgery could wait no longer.

“That type of pain was absolutely miserable,” Sylvia, who went under the knife after Couture defeated him at UFC 68, said.  “I'd go home at night and cry myself to sleep…I was in so much pain…Basically, I just thought about the money. I fought for some of the wrong reasons.”

“I wish I had the surgery several years ago,” he added.  “I've always had back problems and it got really bad before the Randy fight, but I took the fight, and I shouldn't have.  Randy kicked my ass and proved to me why I shouldn't have taken the fight. I think if I was healthy, the fight would have gone a lot differently.  But I'm happy for Randy, I love the guy.”

Despite everything that happened in the past, the 31-year-old MMA fighter remains keen about his professional fighting career.  Now, he is eager to get back into the game and prove that he's “one of the best in the world.”

Fans can catch Sylvia in his bout against Vera at UFC 77: Hostile Territory, which is scheduled on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: UFC.com
(Image courtesy of completemartialarts.com)