Sylvia defeats Polish strongman in freak show bout
Tim Sylvia finally defended the honor of mixed martial arts against an outsider.
Sylvia, who lost in June 2009 to aging former boxer Ray Mercer, defeated former World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski when Pudzianowski tapped from strikes in the second round of Friday night’s “Moosin: God of Martial Arts” event. The event was televised on pay per view.
Pudzianowski is enormously popular in his home country of Poland, where over ten million people were expected to watch the event. He opened the contest with a pair of low kicks that caught Sylvia’s attention, then used his raw strength to throw the former UFC heavyweight champion to the mat. It was the last moment of true offense for Pudzianowski, however, as Sylvia began using his considerable skill set to dismantle the inexperienced strongman.
Pudzianowski was exhausted at the end of the first round and attempted to pull guard early in the second. Sylvia followed Pudzianowski to the floor and began raining down punches. Pudzianowski tapped to the strikes rather than face more punishment.
“What’s up now, folks?” Sylvia asked. “I’m back.”
Sylvia has now won two straight bouts after losing three in a row. The former UFC champion wants to work his way back to either the UFC or Strikeforce, but he’ll have to get in much better shape in order to do so.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Tim Sylvia def. Mariusz Pudzianowski via submission (punches) – Round 2, 1:43
Travis Wiuff def. Josh Barnes via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 0:34
Rafael Natal def. Travis Lutter via knockout (punches) – Round 1, 4:12
Mike Campbell def. Yves Edwards via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Roxanne Modafferi def. Tara LaRosa via split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Lukasz Jurkowski def. Ho Jin Kim via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 2:22
Forrest Petz def. Ralph Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)