By Michael David Smith
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Former UFC heavyweight champion
Tim Sylvia earned his most significant victory in almost three years Saturday night, defeating
Paul Buentello on the War on the Mainland card in Irvine, California.
In the first round Sylvia was getting the better of the punching exchanges and forcing Buentello into corners, where Buentello would tie Sylvia up. Buentello's tendency to hold onto Sylvia led referee Big John McCarthy to separate the fighters on three different occasions in the first round, a round that Sylvia definitely won.
In the second round Buentello did a better job of throwing crisp punches, landing them, and then moving. The smaller Buentello knew he needed to move around the ring in order to deal with the bigger Sylvia, and for the first half of the round that strategy worked. But Buentello seemed to grow tired, and Sylvia eventually trapped Buentello in the corner and started battering him again, eventually leveling Buentello with a right uppercut that knocked Buentello out with only seconds remaining in the second round.
Sylvia is a long, long way from being a heavyweight champion, but he's starting to round back into form and is now on a three-fight winning streak. Beating Buentello doesn't make Sylvia a top 10 heavyweight again, but it at least earns him a measure of respectability. For a past-his-prime fighter on a minor league card, that's about all he could ask for.
The Sylvia-Buentello bout was one of three title fights for the upstart Powerhouse World Promotions organization. In the other two championship bouts, Tony Lopez unleashed a vicious knee to the head to defeat Jason Lambert by second-round knockout, while Matt Horwich surprised Thales Leites with a fourth-round rear-naked choke.
In the night's most historically significant fight, former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver may have lost for the last time.
Pulver was stopped by Diego Garijo at just 1:08 of the first round for his sixth consecutive loss, and it may have been the loss that finally convinces him to retire.
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Read More: mma gossip, results, Paul Buentello (MMA), Tim Sylvia (MMA)
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