Emelianenko vs Sylvia On July 19th

by Robert Sargent

Just one week after departing the UFC, Tim Sylvia has signed to face off with the final PRIDE Heavyweight Champion, Fedor Emelianenko, at a July 19th event in Dallas, Texas, which will air live on the HDNet television network.

The fight will be Emelianenko's first bout against a top-10 heavyweight since he defeated Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović at PRIDE Final Conflict in August of 2005.

Though widely regarded as the best mixed martial artist in the history of the sport, Emelianenko (27-1-0, 1 NC) has scarcely competed in recent years, facing undersized or inexperienced fighters. In Sylvia (24-4-0), he faces a former two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion who is solidly among the top 10 of the division.

Sylvia is coming off of a submission loss to current UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, whom Emelianenko has defeated twice. Emelianenko has never truly lost a fight, with his lone credited loss as a result of a cut from an illegal blow in a tournament in 2000.

If Sylvia is able to use his size to his advantage, as Mark Hunt did against Emelianenko at Shockwave 2006, or can land a knockout punch, he could hand Emelianenko the first legitimate defeat of his career, which is something that Nogueira could not accomplish. However, Emelianenko has weathered storms from many larger opponents in the past, and this may be no different.

The Emelianenko vs Sylvia bout is scheduled to headline an event at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and will air on HDNet FiGHTS. Should Sylvia win, the "superfight" between Emelianenko and Randy Couture could suffer considerably.


To Sylvia's credit, he has wasted no time in challenging the best.