Sylvia v. Pudzianowski: MMA's inauspicious debut in Mass
UFC can't get to Boston soon enough. The journey to get mixed martial arts legalized in Massachusetts wasn't easy and now the first show featuring professionals on May 21 has a chance to be embarrassing.
Tim Sylvia, a former UFC champ with 31 fights under his belt, is fighting 1-0 World Strongman champ Mariusz Pudzianowski. It's the kind of fight we see in Japan not the U.S. It's actually shocking Pudzianowski can even get licensed with such a huge experience gap. Problem No. 2 is that main event may not even happen because Pudzianowski also has a fight scheduled two weeks before the Worchester card back in his native Poland.
The Moosin event already has a circus feel with Eric "Butterbean" Esch serving as promoter/fighter. At least Pudzianowski already understands how to hype a fight, calling Sylvia a "redneck" (2:50 mark).
Apparently, the comment completely disarmed Sylvia, who's unaware of the wide array of Polish jokes. Let's bring Don Rickles in for the next press conference.
Pudzianowski also said Sylvia is tailor-made being that he's a bit blubbery:
"Tim Sylvia is already past his prime, so the only thing he thinks about is the paycheck after the fight. When I’ll take him down and start landing my bombs, he will lose every desire to get up. His handshake at the press conference made me realize that he has a very soft body. I like big and soft people, they are fun to hit."
Bloody Elbow has the entire card:
Tim Sylvia (25-6) vs. Mariusz Pudzianowski (1-0)
Mu Bae Choi (9-4) vs. Travis Wiuff (59-14)
Travis Lutter (10-5) vs. Rafael "Sapo" (11-2)
Yves Edwards (37-15-1) vs. Mike Campbell (7-2)
Tara LaRosa (18-1) vs. Roxanne Modafferi (13-4)
Chang Seob Lee (2-4) vs. Lukasz Jurkowski (5-6)
Meanwhile the UFC is rumored to arrive in Massachusetts in late August. Let's hope Dana White and Co. aren't trying to make up for an awful debut for MMA in Massachusetts.
Pudzianowski quote tip via MMAMania
