Tim Sylvia wants to fight Fedor Emelianenko, but then again, what heavyweight in the top 10 hasn't said that in the last year? According to a recent article by Damon Martin of MMAWeekly.com, Tim Sylvia wanted to leave the UFC in order to fight the best heavyweights outside of the promotion that he would otherwise never be able to face in the Octagon. Specifically, he mentioned Fedor Emelianenko, but he stated that he would like to fight six to seven times next year:
“I’ve come to a crossroads in my career where I’ve fought all the best guys in the UFC. There’s a handful of guys outside the UFC that I really want to fight and I don’t think the UFC’s going to get some of them. Some of them are a little too high priced for the UFC to get. So I just think this is the best avenue for me right now.”
With multiple promotions in the United States including EliteXC, Strikeforce, the as yet unannounced Affliction/Golden Boy Promotion team and several more in Japan, Sylvia said he intends on fighting “six or seven” times next year.
The interesting part about all of this is that Monte Cox worked a deal with the UFC to allow Sylvia to be released from his contract. Sylvia apparently left on good terms and plans to make a move back to the UFC down the road in two to three years:
“We’ve been approached for a while about different organizations and stuff like that, and we were with the UFC,” Sylvia said on MMAWeekly Radio on Monday night. “Now, you know I had one fight left and just some great offers are coming in, and Monte’s like ‘hey, let me talk to Dana and see if maybe they’ll release you and see if we can go out there for a year or two and make some really good money.’
“So the UFC knew the offer and they said they would allow me to be released and that’s what they did. And Monte (Cox) obviously took the advantage that he has and signed me as soon as he could.”
It looks like a great deal for Sylvia, but I'd love to know who is offering such big money for a fighter who has disappointedly left us wanting more in each of his last few fights. Furthermore, how many fighters outside the UFC can provide able challenges and have Tim still fight six to seven times in a year? According to the quote, Sylvia stands to make some big money, so we'll definitely see if Tim can bring home the big bucks.
As for a matchup with Fedor, I don't think it will be happening anytime soon. Fedor is rumored to be asking for nearly $2 million dollars per fight according to MMAJunkie.com. At that fanatical rate, there isn't a promotion out there that will want to try to grab Fedor, an unproven PPV draw. Sylvia has other options though. Barnett, Aleksander Emelianenko, any of EliteXC's talent including Ricco Rodriguez or Antonio Silva, the list goes on. It should be interesting to see who his first matchup will be against.