Ultimate Fighting Championship
Former UFC champion Tim Sylvia announces his retirement
Ultimate Fighting Championship

Former UFC champion Tim Sylvia announces his retirement

Published Jan. 5, 2015 12:33 p.m. ET

Following a 40-plus fight career that spanned 13 years, former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia announced his retirement from mixed martial arts this past weekend while appearing at a regional show in Connecticut.

Sylvia was originally scheduled to fight at the event, but was deemed medically ineligible to compete according to his manager Monte Cox, who posted details on Facebook on Saturday.

"Tim Sylvia's fight tonight at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticute has been cancelled," Cox wrote.  "The Mohegan Commission did not give him medical clearance to compete."

Sylvia then appeared at the event where he stated that there was an issue with his MRI results that were required as part of his pre-fight medicals and afterwards he officially announced his retirement.

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The news was first reported by MMA.tv on Saturday.

Sylvia spent the biggest chunk of his career fighting for the UFC over a span of six years where he was crowned heavyweight champion on two separate occasions and defended the belt three times during the course of his title reign.

Over the course of his UFC career, Sylvia had several notable fights including his trilogy with Andrei Arlovski as well as bouts against Frank Mir, Randy Couture and Brandon Vera.

His UFC career ended with a title fight loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81 in 2008.

Since exiting the Octagon, Sylvia carried on his fighting career in several different promotions while amassing a 7-7 (1 NC) overall.

He retires with an overall record of 31-10, 1 NC during his fight career. 

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