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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A proposed heavyweight bout between former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia and Wes Sims for Monte Cox's "Adrenaline V" event has been turned down by the Ohio State Athletic Commission, according to a report by MMAJunkie.com.
The event is headed to Youngstown, OH, on March 20th, and while this is a rematch of a fight the two had in 2004, Commission executive director Bernie Profato ruled the bout "non-competitive."
The MMAJunkie report cites Profato as stating the reason for declining to sanction the bout was because they "felt the fight was not going to be competitive at this time after comparing [Sims' and Sylvia's] records and the opponents both fighters had faced. And even though it was 2004, Sylvia previously stopped Sims at 1:36 of the first round."
Both fighters will remain on the card, as Sylvia will now face former UFC fighter Brandon Lee Hinkle on the card, and Sims will face former Ultimate Fighter contestant Kerry Schall.
Sylvia picked up a win in an August bout following his infamous loss to former pro boxer Ray Mercer earlier in the year. Sims is coming off a quick first round loss to Bobby Lashley on Showtime at Strikeforce: Miami.
Penick's Analysis: Apparently Sylvia wasn't even aware of the situation at first, as he was posting on his Twitter account up until yesterday that he was fighting Sims, and once it was pointed out to him he responded, saying "Damm u guys know more about me then I do they said he sucks. So I can't fight him cause it's a mismatch." I'm sure Sims' fight with Lashley weighed heavily into the decision, but it isn't as if Sylvia's been on some massive tear in competition recently himself. In the end it makes some sense, but for an event the size of Adrenaline and how Sylvia himself has looked recently it wouldn't have been a dangerous move to match these two up. They're on different levels of competition, yes, but it's not an extreme difference.
[Wes Sims photo provided to MMATorch courtesy Spike TV]
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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