News Tim Sylvia says he’d ‘destroy Francis Ngannou in my prime’

KazDibiase said:




Tim Sylvia and Francis Ngannou have a couple of things in common.


It’s been 15 years since Sylvia stepped foot inside the UFC octagon. The former heavyweight champion was a promotional staple throughout the 2000s and until Stipe Miocic came along in 2016 he had the most title defenses in divisional history.

Surpassing Miocic and taking the heavyweight torch from the proud Ohioan was Cameroon’s Ngannou. “The Predator” is historically the most devastating puncher in the history of mankind, which led him to the UFC title in his March 2021 rematch with Miocic. Ngannou defended the title once against Ciryl Gane via a unanimous decision before parting ways with the UFC earlier this year. Despite Ngannou’s great success and improvements since his first Miocic fight — a January 2018 unanimous decision loss — Sylvia hasn’t been impressed by the arguable best heavyweight on the planet.

“I don’t think Francis is that good,” Sylvia told Submission Radio. “He’s a monster with heavy hands but his punches come from his hips and he swings wild and crazy. He hits you, you’re going to sleep but a technical fighter like [Jon] Jones and Stipe, they beat him again.


“You saw what he did to Gane. He wouldn’t even stand up with him. He took him down. It was an ugly fight. He talks a lot for only winning a fight then defending against Ciryl Gane.

“I’d destroy him in my prime,” he continued. “If we fought right now he beats me but in my prime, if we could go back in time and I’m in my prime, he’s in his prime, I destroy him. He’s too wild. I was more of a technical striker than he is.

Sylvia, 47, and Ngannou, 36, share another thing in common aside from their statuses as former UFC heavyweight champions. Ideally, both men have admitted they would have liked to stay with and end their careers in the UFC. Unfortunately for them, fighting for their rights — whether in overall athletic freedoms or financials — resulted in early exits.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Sylvia said of UFC fighter pay still being a hot topic. “I know the organization and the people running it and they’re greedy and they just don’t care.”


After Sylvia’s “Fight of the Night” bonus-earning performance against Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, things went south thanks to the arrival of Brock Lesnar in the promotion. The UFC newcomer instantly entered the UFC on a 350/350 ($350,000 to show, $350,000 to win) contract that included pay-per-view points, superseding the two-time champion Sylvia’s 100/100 without pay-per-view points.

Maine’s Sylvia was 24-4 at the time and couldn’t see the logic behind the numbers, therefore, prompting him to negotiate for more money along with pay-per-view points. Discussions never led anywhere other than “The Maine-Iac” offering to fight Lesnar and proposing that if he won he’d get the same contract. According to Sylvia, the UFC didn’t like the idea because of Lesnar’s lack of experience and he asked for and received his release.

Ngannou had his requests throughout his entire negotiation period that followed his Gane victory in January 2022 and he ultimately stuck to his guns, receiving his wish in the PFL. While Sylvia isn’t sold on the talent of Ngannou, he commends his fellow former heavyweight champion for standing his ground.

“It’s impressive. It’s awesome,” Sylvia said. “I’m glad he did it, I’m glad he stood up for himself but I don’t know if it was a mistake for him or not because I know they offered him a really, really, really good deal in the UFC. Some of the stuff he was asking for I don’t understand why it was necessary to be a part of the board and all that stuff. I don’t know.

“I’m glad he had the balls to do it. It would have been better if they got like five of the five top champions to do it all at once. I thought he was pretty good friends with ‘Izzy’ [Israel Adesanya] and Kamaru Usman. Those three were pretty tight. It would have been awesome if they stepped aside and said, ‘Hey, this is the way it is.’ I don’t know if he made the right choice or not. If he gets one big fight in boxing, he’s taken care of for the rest of his life but that’s a big if.

“I think in UFC he might have had that opportunity because UFC did it for Conor McGregor,” he concluded. “But Francis Ngannou is not a big draw. He did well but he’s not the greatest heavyweight of all time like he thinks he is.”

https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/7/...s-hed-destroy-francis-ngannou-in-my-prime-mma
Click to expand...


Rat Mercy planked him. Sylvia by brutal ko.
 
moreorless87 said:
I felt the reverse, Lesnar against Reem actually showed the most toughness, he kept coming at Alistair after taking some really big body shots and only went down when Reem caught him with a liver shot.

Carwin really I think Lesnar escaped purely on physical chin and Shane doing a bad job with the follow up GnP, before that as vs Cain he panicked and put himself in a bad position.
Click to expand...

If Brock never did WWE only mma, he ne unstoppable. The guys a freak show in athleticism and pure power.

Noon mistakes like turtling and whatnot hurt him. He ducks nobody. A ufc world champ. He defended the belt. Unpopular opinion but Brock would ko Fedor any version had they fought. Too small and over powered. Brock was unreal though green.

Imagine a seasoned Brock and no colon issues. He fought horse meat Reem. Fedor in SF didn't want that smoke following a 3 fight losing streak all by stoppages including Dan a mw. Brock beats Fedor faster than mw Dan did.
 
Ngannou would punch Tim's head into the 19th row at any point of Tim's career just like Arlovski did twice but didn't finish.

With that said I'd take peak Tim over guys like Derrick Lewis, Tuivasa and I'd give him a shot at beating someone like Gane and Volkov on his very best night.

With that said a real athletic puncher always found Sylvia's chin during every point of his career. When he was in his prime and fought AA, when he was slightly past his prime when he fought Fedor and when he was old, fat and washed up fighting in micro orgs late into his career.

Prime Tim was still nothing to fuck with. His win over Ricco was impressive. I'd pick prime Ricco over Gane, Lewis and Tuivasa all day and would give him a decent shot against Blaydes and Volkov as well.

I'd also say peak Pedro Rizzo would have beaten the shit out those types of guys too. I see Pedro beating the Lewis and Tuivasa types easily. I see him having a great chance of beating Gane and Volkov as well. He would have his hands full with Curtis but that would be still be winnable.

Today's HW division is terrible.
 
Putting “he’d” outside the quotation instead of “I’d” inside is absolutely fucking insane
 
newms84 said:
Tim was 36 with 30 fights when he fought Mercer, I wouldn't exactly call that in his prime. Sylvia is really underrated here but I still don't think he'd beat Francis
Click to expand...
Mercer was nearly 50, Tim stood right in front of him and got blasted. I can see Francis doing the same thing
 
I actually agree wtf lol Tim had the tools to beat Francis in his prime honestly... but I think it would be a matter of Tim's chin holding up because yeah, Ngannou just hits really hard and will come in wild on him if Tim can't keep him at a distance. Tim also has the TDD to stop Francis when he inevitably goes in for a shot if Tim can win on the feet.
 
I respect Tim. But he is not giving Francis technical ability enough credit. Francis is way more technical than Silvia.
 
He wouldnt be the favorite, but i can see it.
 
I think fighting an ugly 6'10 guy who can strike would make Francis even more timid than he was against BB, and Tim would just eat him alive with his jab.
 
Thread is already 10 pages… has Goober Taylor been mentioned yet?

Big Timmah could beat Ngannou and Jones in the same night. If you don’t believe it, just find Goober and ask him.
 
KazDibiase said:




Tim Sylvia and Francis Ngannou have a couple of things in common.


It’s been 15 years since Sylvia stepped foot inside the UFC octagon. The former heavyweight champion was a promotional staple throughout the 2000s and until Stipe Miocic came along in 2016 he had the most title defenses in divisional history.

Surpassing Miocic and taking the heavyweight torch from the proud Ohioan was Cameroon’s Ngannou. “The Predator” is historically the most devastating puncher in the history of mankind, which led him to the UFC title in his March 2021 rematch with Miocic. Ngannou defended the title once against Ciryl Gane via a unanimous decision before parting ways with the UFC earlier this year. Despite Ngannou’s great success and improvements since his first Miocic fight — a January 2018 unanimous decision loss — Sylvia hasn’t been impressed by the arguable best heavyweight on the planet.

“I don’t think Francis is that good,” Sylvia told Submission Radio. “He’s a monster with heavy hands but his punches come from his hips and he swings wild and crazy. He hits you, you’re going to sleep but a technical fighter like [Jon] Jones and Stipe, they beat him again.


“You saw what he did to Gane. He wouldn’t even stand up with him. He took him down. It was an ugly fight. He talks a lot for only winning a fight then defending against Ciryl Gane.

“I’d destroy him in my prime,” he continued. “If we fought right now he beats me but in my prime, if we could go back in time and I’m in my prime, he’s in his prime, I destroy him. He’s too wild. I was more of a technical striker than he is.

Sylvia, 47, and Ngannou, 36, share another thing in common aside from their statuses as former UFC heavyweight champions. Ideally, both men have admitted they would have liked to stay with and end their careers in the UFC. Unfortunately for them, fighting for their rights — whether in overall athletic freedoms or financials — resulted in early exits.

“I’m not surprised at all,” Sylvia said of UFC fighter pay still being a hot topic. “I know the organization and the people running it and they’re greedy and they just don’t care.”


After Sylvia’s “Fight of the Night” bonus-earning performance against Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, things went south thanks to the arrival of Brock Lesnar in the promotion. The UFC newcomer instantly entered the UFC on a 350/350 ($350,000 to show, $350,000 to win) contract that included pay-per-view points, superseding the two-time champion Sylvia’s 100/100 without pay-per-view points.

Maine’s Sylvia was 24-4 at the time and couldn’t see the logic behind the numbers, therefore, prompting him to negotiate for more money along with pay-per-view points. Discussions never led anywhere other than “The Maine-Iac” offering to fight Lesnar and proposing that if he won he’d get the same contract. According to Sylvia, the UFC didn’t like the idea because of Lesnar’s lack of experience and he asked for and received his release.

Ngannou had his requests throughout his entire negotiation period that followed his Gane victory in January 2022 and he ultimately stuck to his guns, receiving his wish in the PFL. While Sylvia isn’t sold on the talent of Ngannou, he commends his fellow former heavyweight champion for standing his ground.

“It’s impressive. It’s awesome,” Sylvia said. “I’m glad he did it, I’m glad he stood up for himself but I don’t know if it was a mistake for him or not because I know they offered him a really, really, really good deal in the UFC. Some of the stuff he was asking for I don’t understand why it was necessary to be a part of the board and all that stuff. I don’t know.

“I’m glad he had the balls to do it. It would have been better if they got like five of the five top champions to do it all at once. I thought he was pretty good friends with ‘Izzy’ [Israel Adesanya] and Kamaru Usman. Those three were pretty tight. It would have been awesome if they stepped aside and said, ‘Hey, this is the way it is.’ I don’t know if he made the right choice or not. If he gets one big fight in boxing, he’s taken care of for the rest of his life but that’s a big if.

“I think in UFC he might have had that opportunity because UFC did it for Conor McGregor,” he concluded. “But Francis Ngannou is not a big draw. He did well but he’s not the greatest heavyweight of all time like he thinks he is.”

https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/7/...s-hed-destroy-francis-ngannou-in-my-prime-mma
Click to expand...

Not sure if he could beat Ngannou even in his prime but he's raised quite a number of good points. Gave a balanced opinion, is all. Especially re Ngannou and his "crusade" for the common fighter (which I say half-ironically)
 
moreorless87 said:
I felt the reverse, Lesnar against Reem actually showed the most toughness, he kept coming at Alistair after taking some really big body shots and only went down when Reem caught him with a liver shot.

Carwin really I think Lesnar escaped purely on physical chin and Shane doing a bad job with the follow up GnP, before that as vs Cain he panicked and put himself in a bad position.
Click to expand...
But Lesnar only made one single-leg TD attempt against Overeem. Granted, this was a comic book character, full PED Overeem who just came from Strikeforce and flew to Europe to skip a drug test. And it was the smallest/flabbiest Brock I ever saw--right after a near-death bout with illness. Overeem would've been harder to take down than Mir for sure.

But in the Mir rematch, Brock was absolutely committed to taking Frank down then destroying him in the half guard. He was willing to eat a knee or punch or two in the process.
 
HaulParris said:
Sylvia had a decent jab which helped his plodding footwork, but I don't know if it would be enough to stop Ngannou.
Click to expand...
Probably not, but he would've jabbed him silly if it was the tentative Ngannou who fought Derrick Lewis.
 
Tim has that style though that would cause a snoozer of a fight. I don't doubt he would be able to nullify ngannous striking and make it a boring fight in his favor.
 
Remember when this guy got smoked on the feet by a 44 year old Randy Couture? Yeah, I do.
 
Actually enjoyed this interview, Timmy is definitely more well spoken than I thought he would be, especially for a guy that lasted in his era.

Of course he wouldn’t beat Francis, but nothing wrong with someone being confident in his skills. Remember nobody thought he was going to beat Rico or AA, the guy made a career of upsetting people.
 
He certainly wouldn't destroy Francis and wouldn't beat him more than maybe 2/10 times (estimate), but I think some people underrate his career, especially relative to what appeared to be his natural skills and abilities (not much, beyond mere bulk and size).
 
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