By Thinesh John
Former 2x UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, steps in to replace Soa Palelei at ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation
Yes, that’s right ladies and gentleman. Former UFC Heavyweight Champions Andrei Arlovski (17-9) and Tim Sylvia will clash for the 4th time in their careers.
The announcement was first made by ONE Fighting Championship through its official Facebook page.
ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation is set to go down on August 31st at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manilla, Philippines. Preliminary bouts are expected to stream on YouTube.
Arlovski was originally slated to face Soa Palelei, but according to reports, contractual agreements failed to materialize between Palelei and the promotion, which eventually led to the Australian’s expulsion from the card.
Known as ‘The Pitbull’, Arlovski recently snapped his 4-fight losing with a much needed TKO victory over Ray Lopez under the ProElite banner. The 33-year-old is unbeaten with a record of 2-0, following a poor stint in Strikeforce. Now training at the renowned Jackson’s MMA gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion has faced a who’s who of professional MMA fighters thus far, including Fedor Emelianenko, Roy Nelson, Vladimir Matyushenko and Antonio Silva.
Tim Syliva, in the meantime, needs no introductions as well. A former 2x UFC Heavyweight Champion, Sylvia first met Arlovski at UFC 51. And although he lost the fight via submission, he went on to win the next two encounters via TKO. A member of the Miletich Fighting Systems camp, Sylvia holds a professional MMA record of 31-7. He held a record of 9-4 in his stint with the UFC, gaining victories over Jeff Monson and Brandon Vera. The 36-year-old is now riding high on a 3-fight winning streak, and is 7-3 in his past 10 fights.
With an expected crowd of 16,500 watching on, the 4th meeting between Arlovski and Sylvia could be just as exciting as the epic ‘Thrilla in Manilla’ showdown between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frasier… or better.
Here’s the updated card for ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation:
- Bibiano Fernandes vs. Gustavo Falciroli
- Shinya Aoki vs. TBA
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia
- Jens Pulver vs. Eric Kelly
- Gregor Gracie vs. Nicholas Mann
- Rolles Gracie vs. Tony Banello
- Eduard Folayang vs. Felipe Enomoto
- Mitch Chilson vs. Shannon Wiratchai
- Kevin Belingnon vs. Soo Chul Kim
- Igor Gracie vs. Jung Hwan Cha
- Phil Baroni vs. Rodrigo Ribeiro
- Honorio Banario vs. Andrew Benibe
