Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia has taken to social media to show a photo of the arm he famously broke against Frank Mir at UFC 48.
With the vacant UFC heavyweight title on the line, Mir famously broke Sylvia’s arm just 50 seconds into their title fight with an armbar. Sylvia refused to tap out, but referee Herb Dean saw the limb was compromised and stopped the fight. It’s still to date one of the most visual examples of a broken limb that we’ve seen inside the Octagon.
16 years later and the 44-year-old Sylvia is essentially retired, having not fought since 2013. However, while he may not be an active competitor these days, the scars of his fighting days continue to haunt Sylvia. On Tuesday, the former UFC heavyweight champion posted a photo of his famous broken arm, showing how the screws put in it all those years ago are not leaking out. According to Sylvia, the UFC will not cover the costs of fixing it.
Check out the photo on Sylvia’s Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA8wsriJ4f2/
So my arm been giving me problems for over a year now. The screws are backing out from my arm break when i fought @thefrankmir my dr. Contacted the @ufc cause it was paid for by them the first time.Sort of under workman’s comp. The ufc says it’s not there problem and will not cover it. I don’t have insurance and it’s going to cost well over 10,000 dollars to get fixed. Any thoughts on what i should do? — Tim Sylvia
Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg was the first fighter to jump into the comments section, writing, “2x world champion. I hope younger fighters are paying attention.” It remains to be seen if the UFC will change its mind about mending Sylvia’s arm, but in the case they don’t, some fans have suggested he start a GoFundMe.
Do you think the UFC should fix the arm of Tim Sylvia?