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

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.
Agreed 100%
 
Tim Sylvia has exactly one good win in his career: Andrei Arlovski x 2.

That's it.

I'd pick Derrick Lewis, Mark Hunt, Ngannou, Gane, JDS, Cane, Brock, Carwin, Bigfoot, basically any decently athletic HW that can punch or wrestle, to beat Sylvia. It's HW so he might win a fight here or there, but that's it.
 
As others have stated, Timmeh is underrated, but probably loses. Timmeh is correct though, that he has size/reach over Frank, as well as being slightly better technically. But he most likely wouldn't be a Ke to handle Frank's combination of size, power, and aggression.

Prime-for-prime, Timmeh loses this fight 7/10. The 3/10 would mostly be due to Timmeh having size, ko power, and probably a slightly better gas tank.

If we're talking giant strikers, Semmy would be a more compelling fight.
 




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

Francis kinda always sucked so who knows Tim was nit great either
 
Nobody knows for sure how that fight would go. Sylvia was underrated because he had a quirky personality. He was never treated very well by fans
 
Lol c’mon bro. You’re clowning yourself at this point. I get it, why not “@“ a silver belch.
{<jordan}

No you're the actual clown <seedat>

Even by assuming Ngannou is not natty, he's still limited by USADA, so my point remains.

Tim Sylvia had very weak controls and could take a lot more things than Ngannou could ever take.

You're just salty <seedat>
 
Bullshit... he injured his knee training for the Gane fight

https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2022...injury-before-ufc-270-designed-for-me-to-fall
you-are-so-dumb.gif

WTF are you talking about ? So you're confirming my point that he had an injured knee and still beat Gane ? {<jordan}
 
No you're the actual clown <seedat>

Even by assuming Ngannou is not natty, he's still limited by USADA, so my point remains.

Tim Sylvia had very weak controls and could take a lot more things than Ngannou could ever take.

You're just salty <seedat>

Burying yourself deeper with each response. I don’t even have to say anything. This is great. I’m loving the unintentional comedy that you bring just by sharing your idiotic ideas. Keep going, sir.
 
Timmy would try to work off a jab and probably get KO’d. You need to pressure Big Frank and tire him out a bit, you let him lead the dance and your fucked.
 
it's not that far fetched, tim was a dominant champ for a bit. Probably 60/40 ngannou simply because ngannou hits so darn hard, and timmie was more of a jabber like volkov.... styles make fights.
 
No, you made a false analogy between Randy and Ngannou. As if Randy taking down Sylvia (who had a very messed up back at the time) has any relevance to Sylvia vs. Ngannou prime vs. prime. It doesn't.


Sylvia got droppwd bt Randy in the first 10 seconds.

Randys wrestlung isn't why that analogy gets made
 
HW doesn't work like that.
Either guy in the "big punching" game at that weight can finish the fight against anyone.

He's basically saying that he could've avoided getting KO'ed, but he didn't do so good vs Couture when he lost his title to him back in the day, so I'd say he could've been caught by any other big hitter as well, and Ngannou hits harder, so that's your answer.
 
Sylvia got droppwd bt Randy in the first 10 seconds.

Randys wrestlung isn't why that analogy gets made
But again, it's a pointless comparison. Randy caught Tim because he wasn't expecting it. It was like a green Brock Lesnar dropping Mir and Heath Herring at the beginning of their fights. Sylvia had fought plenty of guys who hit much harder than Randy who didn't KO him (Arlovksi X 3, Gan McGee, Ricco, Ben Rothwell, even Cabbage). He wouldn't be expecting an early TD from Ngannou so the Couture example is immaterial. Ngannou might catch him early but it wouldn't be because Tim was overly cautious about TDs and not expecting it.
 
But again, it's a pointless comparison. Randy caught Tim because he wasn't expecting it. It was like a green Brock Lesnar dropping Mir and Heath Herring at the beginning of their fights. Sylvia had fought plenty of guys who hit much harder than Randy who didn't KO him (Arlovksi X 3, Gan McGee, Ricco, Ben Rothwell, even Cabbage). He wouldn't be expecting an early TD from Ngannou so the Couture example is immaterial. Ngannou might catch him early but it wouldn't be because Tim was overly cautious about TDs and not expecting it.


AA dropped him in the first 30 seconds...twice. Fedor also dropped him early. Neither are wrestlers


Just cant see Stlvia makin it a whole round
 


What's your prime got to do with it?



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
 

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