#5 Tim Sylvia vs. Tra Telligman – UFC 54: Boiling Point – 08/20/05
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We end with a finish so violent that rumours of a fighter death covered up by Zuffa still persisted on internet forums almost ten years after the event.
Tim Sylvia, the former UFC Heavyweight champion, was initially meant to face former PRIDE fighter Assuerio Silva at UFC 54. When Silva pulled out, Tra Telligman – recognisable for his missing right pectoral muscle – stepped in on late notice.
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Telligman was giving up six inches of height and almost 30lbs of weight to Sylvia, but he was undeterred.
A veteran dating back to 1995, Telligman had trained with Ken Shamrock’s Lion’s Den for years and had a PRIDE victory over Igor Vovchanchyn on his record, back when Igor was the most feared Heavyweight on the planet.
Accepting this fight, though, would prove to be a huge mistake.
From the off, it was clear that Telligman was struggling with Sylvia’s height and reach advantage. Big Tim’s striking looked tighter than ever and he was lighting up the veteran, bloodying him up throughout the first round.
When the klaxon sounded to tell the fighters they had ten seconds remaining, it looked like Telligman would escape the first round. Sylvia though had other ideas.
Forcing Telligman back with a long right hand, Sylvia followed up with a left head kick. Although it didn’t have the same finesse as a Cro Cop head kick, Sylvia’s shot landed with as much, if not more force.
Telligman went down on the buzzer, but to suggest he could’ve made it into the second round was laughable. He was out cold, not moving at all, forcing Herb Dean to pull open his mouth and rip out his mouthpiece to stop him from swallowing his tongue.
The veteran was taken out of the Octagon on a spineboard – the second fighter at UFC 54 to do so after Terry Martin in the night’s first prelim – and was literally never heard from again inside the UFC.
That’s probably where the rumours of his death came from. Not long after the knockout, posts on various MMA forums appeared that suggested Telligman had been killed by Sylvia’s kick and the death had been covered up by Zuffa.
Thankfully though that wasn’t the case. Although he never fought again, Tra eventually resurfaced in 2007 as a coach for the Texas Dragons in Chuck Norris’s World Combat League. Still, any knockout that manages to start up such a morbid rumour has to be considered arguably the worst in UFC history.
Think of any other finishes so violent, it looked like the loser had died? Let me know!
Until next time.....
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