Sep 19, 2009 - Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia got back in the win column for the first time in almost two years on Friday night, beating a little-known fighter named Jason Riley by first-round knockout at the Adrenaline MMA show in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
Sylvia's last win was against Brandon Vera at UFC 77 in October of 2007. Riley is a huge step down in competition from Vera -- and almost all of the opponents Sylvia has taken on in his MMA career -- but at this point, Sylvia will take a win over anyone, and his win over Riley was fairly quick, coming with a left hook that connected to Riley's ear at 2:32 into the first round.
"I'm back," Sylvia said. "I still need to lose some more weight, but I want to thank my management, my team, all the MMA fans. I still have some good years left."
It's open to debate whether Sylvia really has much left, but he said he hopes to fight again as soon as next month, possibly in Japan. And although Riley wasn't much of a challenge for him, Sylvia insisted that Riley was a worthy competitor.
"He's a tough kid," Sylvia said of Riley. "Props to him. I hope he comes to Iowa and trains with us."
Sylvia improved his pro record to 25-6. Riley falls to 6-2.
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