Photo credit: UFC

By Sam Jemielity

Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title-holder Tim Sylvia has a high threshold for pain. In a 2004 title bout, heavyweight Frank Mir trapped the 6'8", 260-pound Sylvia with his right forearm in a submission hold. Mir put his 240 pounds into the hold, Sylvia's forearm bent in an unnatural direction and, then, simply, snapped. The ref stepped in to stop the fight, even as Sylvia lifted Mir up and smashed his head into the canvas.

As the ref declared Mir the winner, Sylvia ­ nicknamed "The Maine-iac" because of his East Coast roots -- protested that he could continue. Even as Sylvia maintained his arm wasn't broken, horrified onlookers in the crowd -- which included Shaquille O'Neal -- gasped when in-house television replays showed Sylvia's forearm snap about three inches below the elbow, causing a noticeable bulge in his skin. UFC officials declared Mir winner by TKO. The gruesome footage became one of the most stomach-turning viral videos on the Net -- and made the Maine-iac, even in defeat, a UFC cult hero.

Combining swift violence, toughness, drama and showmanship, the UFC is fast becoming the hottest fight game in the country. A May 2006 UFC event at the Staples Center in Los Angeles drew celebs such as Cindy Crawford and Nicolas Cage, and reports put the total gate that night near $10 million. With more regulations and better safety standards, the sport is now sanctioned in nearly half the country, bringing the violent, fascinating world of mixed martial arts to a broader public.

Sylvia is at the top of the UFC, but it's been a rocky road. After winning the UFC heavyweight title in 2003, a shocking victory over Ricco Rodriguez, Sylvia was stripped of the belt and suspended for four months for testing positive for the steroid Winstrol. The broken arm derailed his comeback attempt to win the vacant heavyweight title against Mir. But in April 2006, Sylvia defeated Andrei "The Pit Bull" Arlovski to regain his belt.

With a 23-2 record, the towering Sylvia combines martial arts, wrestling and boxing to devastating effect. How devastating? Just ask Tra Telligman, who fought Sylvia in 2005. With seconds left in the first round, Sylvia landed a high leg kick (yes, kick) to his opponent's left temple. The 6'2" Telligman dropped like he'd been shot. On July 8, Sylvia defends his title against Arlovski. In their April 2006 fight, Arlovski (who had previously beaten Sylvia) and the Maine-iac put on a show for the ages. Midway into round one, Arlovski floored Sylvia with a vicious right cross. Sylvia sprang to his feet. Surprised by Sylvia's recovery, Arlovski flung a right cross and let his guard down. Sylvia landed a brutal right uppercut to the jaw, Arlovski's knees buckled, and he dropped face-first to the canvas. Sylvia hammered seven blows to his foe's head before the ref stopped it. In barely 10 seconds, Sylvia went from chump to champ.

With Sylvia-Arlovski III as the main event on the UFC's July 8 pay-per-view card, Playboy.com went toe-to-toe with Sylvia about his opponent's weak chin, UFC groupies and just what it feels like to have your forearm snapped like dry spaghetti.

Playboy.com: The end to your last fight with Andrei Arlovski at Arrowhead Pond was probably the most dramatic turnaround in UFC history. So the first question is pretty obvious: How do you and Andrei top the amazing finish to your second fight?

Tim Sylvia: The game plan is to go in there and knock him out again. If he gets in the way of my punches again, he's gonna get knocked out. He's got a weak chin, and we're gonna capitalize on it.

Playboy.com: Did you think going into the last bout that he had a weak chin?

Sylvia: Yeah, we'd seen him hurt a few times by guys who weren't even strikers. One time when he fought a really good striker, he got knocked out by a jab. He does a really good job of not getting hit. But when he does get hit, he falls.

Playboy.com: Watching that fight, right before you took him out, it looked like he had you dead to rights. How'd you turn the tables?

Sylvia: We worked hard on up-down drills. He happened to drop me with that big punch, and I just happened to spring back up as soon as possible. It was a flash; he dropped me with a good punch. On the way down, I thought, "Shit, he hit me again with his punch. I gotta get back up."

Playboy.com: Are you worried about Arlovski's speed and ground game in this match, not to mention his extra motivation after the last fight?

Sylvia: I'm not worried about his speed at all. I was faster than he was in our last fight. I plan on being just as fast, if not faster. The ground game, yeah, he's good on the ground. But I'm pretty good on the ground, too. He got lucky the first time. It won't happen again.

Playboy.com: Without giving away all your secrets, what's your approach to the rematch this time?

Sylvia: I'm going out there and knocking him out again. Stand with him and try to strike with him. Hit him.

Playboy.com: Your broken arm against Frank Mir has to be one of the ugliest sports injuries in recent memory. How did it feel when it happened?

Sylvia: When it happened, it didn't hurt at all. I felt it break. I felt it pop three times. I was like, "He just broke my arm, I'm gonna kill him." And the referee stopped it, and I was pissed off. But it was a good stoppage, it saved my career. I'm fortunate for that, and I was able to regain the heavyweight title two years later.

Playboy.com: When did the pain set in?

Sylvia: About 15 minutes afterwards. It was pretty severe pain, especially when the doctors were trying to mess around with it. I was like, "Ooooh, don't touch it. I'm telling you, it's broken. I know I broke it. Leave it alone, let's go to the hospital and see what they can do."

Playboy.com: What was going through your head that you wanted to keep fighting with the broken arm?

Sylvia: I was pissed off. I knew I could beat Frank Mir. I slammed him hard. And then, when he broke my arm, I picked him up and dropped him on his head, and he went limp. I was getting ready to pick him up again, and dropping big lefts on his head and face, but the referee stopped it. He's got a weak chin. All I had to do was hit him once, and he was gonna go to sleep, too.

Playboy.com: Who's tougher, heavyweight boxers or heavyweight UFC fighters?

Sylvia: Heavyweight UFC fighters, for sure. They train six weeks for a fight, that's it. We train full-time, all the time. I put in today three hours already. I'm putting in another three tonight. I've done three different workouts already. Tonight I've got to do boxing for a half hour, grappling for an hour and strength and conditioning for 45 minutes.

Playboy.com: What's the most intense part of your workout?

Sylvia: My toughest workout is the hour of grappling. I've got four guys coming after me who are fresh, rotating in on me, and I'm going an hour straight. They're pushing the pace, and I gotta keep up on them.

Playboy.com: Is that tougher than the actual fight?

Sylvia: There's nothing I'm not ready for. When I train hard and I have guys pushing me, the fight's the easy part. The training's the hardest part.

Playboy.com: What kind of purses do UFC fighters commonly win?

Sylvia: I don't get into money. The heavyweights are up there, over $100,000. But it's a private thing, talking about money.

Playboy.com: Do you think one day, UFC purses will reach the millions boxers make for fights?

Sylvia: I hope it gets there someday. We work harder than they do, we're better athletes than they are, we're putting more asses in the seats, we're selling out venues, we have more pay-per-view buys. We're taking over boxing, it's inevitable. So we should be getting the pay that the boxers are getting as well.

Playboy.com: When asked whether he thinks it's inevitable that someone will get killed or seriously injured in a UFC fight, Dana White recently told Playboy magazine, "I fear it. I really do." Do you fear that you -- or someone else -- might get killed in the ring?

Sylvia: I don't fear, myself. I think it's a relatively safe sport. It's nothing like boxing. You don't take hundreds of punches to the head each round, unless you've got two really good stand-up guys. There are just so many ways to end the fight. With the small gloves that we wear, it only takes that one punch. There are a lot more knockouts in the UFC because of the small gloves and the heavy punchers in the heavyweight division. I don't think it's going to happen, not in the UFC. It could happen in a little rinky-dink show, possibly, because they're not regulated as well, and they don't have all the physicals that we do. Every year we have MRIs, CAT scans, blood work, physicals. Nevada and California are pretty strict on those types of things.

Playboy.com: UFC's popularity has gone up as you've added regulation, but you did get suspended for steroids for four months. What made you think you needed to try them?

Sylvia: I was just not happy with my physique. I wanted to get leaned up. The stuff I used wasn't a muscle enhancer; it was known to be a drug that made you ripped. It was Winstrol. I talked to some people at the gym, they said try it, so I did. It just happened to crystallize in my body and stick around for about a year [Laughs], so...I did it, I admitted to it, I paid the consequences. I paid my fine, paid my suspension, relinquished my belt and said, I'll fight for it again someday. And I did, and I happened to capitalize on it and win.

Playboy.com: Do you feel it's better for the sport to be more regulated, when you look at the Major League Baseball steroid controversy?

Sylvia: I'm biased. Like I said, the stuff I used wasn't muscle enhancers, so I don't see it being a problem. But other people do. It was wrong, it was against the rules, and I broke 'em. To be honest with you, I think baseball, football, basketball...all those guys...a lot of them use. They have to, to compete at that level. People want to see Barry Bonds hit home runs, they want to see Mark McGwire kill the ball. Well, they gotta get bigger and stronger to do it. Naturally, they couldn't be doing it, so they did it with enhancement drugs, and that's what [the fans] are paying to see.

Playboy.com: Do UFC fighters have groupies?

Sylvia: Yeah, it's getting that way. I won't name names, but a buddy of mine was at a club with one girl. And another girl came up to him and said, "I think you're really hot." He was like, "Well, I'm with a girl right now," but this girl didn't care. So he's like, "I have a limo outside, let's go for a ride." He took her for a ride, banged her in the limo. And the girl that was inside asked his friend, who was a girl, and she said, "To be honest with you, I think he left with another girl." He came back, and that girl knew that he was with another girl, and said, "You're still leaving with me."

Playboy.com: Playboy.com: Do you have any pre-fight rituals?

Sylvia: Nah. I always take a nap the day of the fight, make sure I get three meals in. We get in the locker room, raise hell and have a good time. About an hour before, it's business time, so we say a prayer, get warmed up, and go out there and do what you gotta do.

Playboy.com: Do you have any music you listen to to get psyched up?

Sylvia: Well, the UFC picked a song out for me -- "Jesus Walks" by Kanye West. I like that song, but I'm more of a country fan.

Playboy.com: Your knockout of Tra Telligman is legendary in UFC circles. What move, exactly, was it that caught Tra Telligman in the head?

Sylvia: I decided to throw it out there at the end of the round, because when you throw high kicks, you jeopardize getting taken down. I won that fight standing up. I just wanted to end the round with something fun, and it happened to catch him, and good night.

Playboy.com: What's your prediction for the outcome July 8?

Sylvia: I'm going out there and I'm gonna knock his ass out.