We can all breathe easy now, per MMA Weekly:

Cox says Sylvia won't retire.

"He's an MMA fighter, that's what he does for a living," said the big man's manager. "He's got to keep fighting - he's too young to quit."

Cox says he learned plenty from his short involvement with M-1 Global, his first foray into national promotion. The company made big promises, many contrary to Cox's business instincts, and eventually fractured before putting on an event. The plan for Adrenaline is to stay regional and build slowly.

"We're a company," he said. "We can lose on one, and we make it up on the next one. When you're doing 60 shows a year, all that really counts is the bottom line at the end of the year.

"I'm not trying to do anything with Adrenaline, other than try to find a place that I can run a show that's profitable."

Cox does have a point that there is a vital niche to be filled by promotions like Adrenaline. Fighters on the downswing of their career like Jeremy Horn need a place to fight. Fighters on the upswing of their career like breakout heavyweight Ray Mercer Mike Russow need a place where they can grow.

Cox has a long and largely successful track record as an MMA manager and promoter. His Extreme Combat promotion put midwest MMA on the map.

Here's hoping he can do better next time.

Today on "MMA Nation" we'll be joined by blue chip prospect and UFC light heavyweight contender Jon "Bones" Jones. We'll ask him about the development of his game since entering the UFC, how he's preparing for his fight with Jake O'Brien at UFC 100 and more.

We'll also talk about last night's Strikeforce Challenger Series: Villasenor vs. Cyborg event, tonight's "The Ultimate Fighter 9" Finale event, Tim Sylvia vs. Ray Mercer (and why this post is totally and completely wrong) and much more.

"MMA Nation" airs every Saturday 7:00pm EST to 9:00pm EST on 106.7 WJFK. To listen live over the Internet, go to WJFK's website and click "Listen Live".

I'm also now on Twitter: @mmanation.

"MMA Nation" is also available by podcast on iTunes.

Number to call: 800-636-1067

Email here.

Talk to you then.

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HT: CBS42

If you're not reading Scott Christ over at BadLeftHook.com, I don't know what you're doing with your life. Christ positively nails what the only true significance of that abortion of a fight actually means:

Actually, let me continue with the Sylvia-Mercer thoughts. ESPN's MMA blogger, Jake Rossen, ran with the headline "Ray Mercer beats Tim Sylvia; boxing's death rattle delayed," and then called out boxing promoters with "inferiority complexes" about MMA, saying they'll be reveling in this. Here's the thing: Nobody gave a damn about the Sylvia-Mercer fight except MMA folks that were interested in what Sylvia was up to, and guys like me who are ridiculous weirdos. I really doubt Bob Arum had Mercer-Sylvia on his radar. This fight was a disaster. The fact that it resulted in something highly YouTubeable is meaningless. There are surely numbskulls out there that love boxing and hate MMA and think this mattered, but anyone rational couldn't really care less other than the outcome was memorable. Boxing isn't dead or dying, MMA still has room to grow, and neither Ray Mercer nor Tim Sylvia are likely to play vital roles in the future of either sport. Period. The idea that this fight "meant something" is melodramatic. It was a fat guy that didn't give a crap against an old guy that kinda did and can still throw a punch.

The only real take home lesson from this fight is that the universe's laws of biophysics are what we thought they were. No more, no less. Feel free to carry on.

Photo courtesy Sherdog.com.

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There's a reason I didn't do any UFC 99 talk (check the comments), but the rest of the show went well:

I open the show with discussion of the Washington City Paper profile piece then go into detail about Faber vs. Brown II.

Tim Kennedy joins the show to talk Nick Thompson, back to training full time, the future of the Army Combatives program and more.

My producer Othello and I discuss the abortion that is Tim Sylvia vs. Ray Mercer and the culpability of Monte Cox in the sordid affair.

In the fourth segment, we discuss why Gina Carano and Cris Cyborg are not the top two female fighters in MMA and why Molly Qerim is significantly hotter than Gina Carano.

We end the show with a discussion of why the UFC Gyms could either be a over commercialized disaster or the types of initiatives that help bring MMA closer to the mainstream.

"MMA Nation" airs every Saturday 7:00pm EST to 9:00pm EST on 106.7 WJFK. To listen live over the Internet, go to WJFK's website and click "Listen Live".

I'm on Twitter now: @mmanation.

"MMA Nation" is also available by podcast on iTunes.

We're on Facebook, too: type MMA Nation on the search bar in the upper right hand corner. Please become a fan. We want to be on WJFK on Thursday nights and need your support.

Tim Sylvia's humiliating loss to Ray Mercer is mostly being discussed in terms of its meaning for Tim's seriously damaged career as a fighter. Not only does this loss brutally damage Sylvia's brand as a top MMA fighter, but in the immediate brass tacks sense, it will probably deprive him of a very nice payday at Affliction Trilogy. The next (and probably final) Affliction show. That's because the California State Athletic Commission will likely not license Sylvia to fight so soon after a brutal KO loss and rightfully so.

It's sad what has happened to Tim Sylvia's career and reputation, but the point that should be discussed is the absolutely awful career management Tim has been getting from Monte Cox.

Monte Cox has a massive conflict of interest as the promoter behind Adrenaline MMA and the manager of several fighters, including Tim Sylvia. Clearly in this case he did not put Tim's interests before his own as the promoter.

If I can quote myself from a few months back when the Sylvia-Mercer fight was announced:

This is pathetic on so many levels. Poor Tim Sylvia, Monte Cox has really painted him into a corner. First he convinced Tim to ask to be released from the UFC where he had had two title runs. Then he was going to headline Adrenaline shows that didn't happen. Then he got paid $800,000 to get demolished by Fedor....

Well, Monte hasn't been all bad to Tim, but let's face facts, when you make $800,000 to get destroyed in 0:36, you've basically taken a big one time cash payment in lieu of a future in MMA.

With his anti-charismatic persona and his long string of cautious, tentative and tedious performances as UFC champ, has to be the formidable athlete with the least brand equity of anyone in MMA.

I would also be remiss if I didn't mention that Sam Caplan was completely correct when he said:

Despite Mercer’s MMA inexperience, he still poses a unique threat to Sylvia. While the heavy-handed Slice felt it was prudent to take Mercer off his feet, Sylvia is not known for taking fights to the ground and instead may attempt to trade punches with a professional boxer that was good enough to win a Gold medal at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.

At the time I jumped all over Sam, but time will tell and its clear that Sam had a very good point about Ray Mercer and the threat he presented to Tim Sylvia.

However, as long as we're reviving old quotes, let's look at what Big Tim was saying when he quit the UFC to sign with Adrenaline:

"I'll be real active, fighting six or seven times a year," Sylvia said. "Adrenaline is a new company that's just starting up, but they're allowing fighters to fight outside of their organization. That's huge... Take for instance my last fight. Granted, I loss, but I came out of there unhurt and unscathed. I could have fought a week or two later.

"Being 32 years old, I have four or five good years ahead of me. I plan to make the most of it."

And here's what Cox had to say about his plans for Adrenaline:

"It's a chance for me to build an organization," Cox said. "We're not going to come in and be the UFC. Anyone who tries to do that is crazy.

"We're brand new. What we want to do is I want to identify exciting fighters, up-and-coming fighters, and give them a chance to perform on a big stage. And hopefully, we'll gather a big following and someday down the road be doing pay-per-views and such."

But a look at the roster of Adrenaline fighters so far shows a lot more Monte Cox affiliated fighters on the tail end of their careers than up and comers. There is also no indication that the promotion is building a following.

Monte still manages a lot of fighters at the top of the sport including Rich Franklin and Matt Hughes. He also manages up and coming star Eddie Alvarez whose career he has so far guided very well. Although I do worry about the decision to sign with Bellator which seems like a high-risk, low reward option for Alvarez.

It should also be noted that Cox is a veteran of the sport and has done a great deal to build MMA as a promoter and manager. All respect to Mr. Cox for what he has accomplished. But let's call a spade a spade and recognize that Tim Sylvia's career nosedive didn't just happen in the ring and the cage, it happened backstage too.

UPDATE: Zach Arnold opines:

We know what kind of damage this will do for Sylvia’s fighting career. What I am more interested in is seeing how much damage Monte Cox has suffered to his reputation for a) the way he’s managed Tim Sylvia in my opinion and b) putting Sylvia in this kind of position against someone like Mercer, who was having to box in Sweden for the last couple of years. My take is that Cox should not go away from this ordeal unscathed. This whole ordeal is a huge stain on him professionally. Everyone will rightfully rip on Tim, but Monte Cox is the one who deserves the biggest spotlight of public shame here.

Alan Conceicao chimes in with a counter position:

I actually disagree, Zach. Monte did a hell of a job getting Sylvia his payday for the Fedor fight. I mean, really, the guy made more in guaranteed money that night than he had in his previous 8 fights combined in the UFC or something crazy like that. The problem is that Sylvia took the stance afterwards that he was a big money fighter and demanding premier matchups instead of recognizing his placement in the sport and rebuilding. He could have gone to Japan or fought on independent shows like a lot of guys had. Hell, I bet he could have gotten on M-1 Challenge with little effort and picked up some easy Ws. Instead, ego got a hold of him and told him that he could be a world class boxer. He looked at the Klitschkos selling out soccer stadiums and thought he should be doing the same. And that’s what put him in this position. Ultimately though, Cox should have done a better job either talking him out of it or refusing to promote the fight and cut his losses with Timmy. No one is blameless. Hell, Ray Mercer is only here because he didn’t take his boxing career seriously enough when he was in his prime and spent all his money. Maybe if Merciless Ray Mercer had spent more time in the gym and less time audibly trying to throw a fight on camera (Jesse Ferguson), none of this would have happened.

The partial backstory:

In his very first professional MMA fight Danny Lafever was able to pull off one of the most stunning upsets in MMA history. After an initial feeling out period where both fighters circled and looked to find their range, it was Lafever who threw a lightning fast straight right hand to the jaw, which instantaneously knocked out UFC veteran Benji Radach. Lafever and his team were absolutely elated as they rushed the ring starting a near riot as Radach's supporters stood in stunned silence at the colossal upset.

More here. The analogy doesn't quite work (and the link provided isn't even half of the full story), but the parallels are there. Props to the hardcores who get the reference.

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Scott Christ at BadLeftHook sums up what the fight truly meant:

If anyone rational wants to know my opinion of what this means in the great pretend war between MMA and boxing, it means absolutely nothing.  Listen, I've never met Tim Sylvia. I genuinely assume he's a nice guy. But I have no idea what kind of mindset he has right now other than a guess that it's not very good.  He came in over 300 pounds for this fight, which means he didn't train and didn't take this seriously, which is stupid. I know we all think the fight was a joke -- and it was, it should not have happened -- but he was going in there to do a job, a dangerous job, and he didn't prepare. His career is completely in shambles now.

I couldn't agree more with the rest of Scott's feelings on the fight which are basically that A) this would be a nice sendoff for Ray (as long as he doesn't decide this means he has a career left ahead of him)  and B) that Sylvia needs to get his head on right and maybe he can still turn his career back into something real going forward.

Beyond the personal meaning for both men, there really isn't anything more to read into this fight other than that boxers have a natural chance in any fight based on the fact that they're able to land one punch with small gloves and knock someone out.  This is a true case of "every fight starts on the feet" actually meaning something.

-- photo via Sherdog.com

 

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HT: Next MMA Fighter, kyfm621

Ray Mercer gives away his game plan and lays the pressure down on Tim Sylvia at the Adrenaline III press conference:

"It's all going to boil down to who is a real man and who is going to do what we said we was going to do. We are going to get in there and he can kick and all that. I ain't going to be kicking or nothing. I'm going to be doing boxing."

If the fight does hit the floor, however, Mercer claims he is up for it:

"I'll do MMA, MCI, AT&T, I'll do all of it," Mercer said. "Anything he wants to do I'm ready."

HT: FightOpinion; CBS42

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