A former UFC champion never made a return to the Octagon after parting ways with the promotion in 2008.
Dana White hasn’t always seen eye-to-eye with each member of the roster, with some UFC stars being harder to work with than others.
For many fighters, it’s just business and that allows them to have a working relationship with the promotion but that’s not always the case.
The UFC CEO has had some tense relationships in the past, with Tito Ortiz recently stating he wants to bury the hatchet with White following their huge rivalry.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia was granted his release from the UFC in 2008 and though there were talks of him potentially returning several years later, it never materialized.
Tim Sylvia says Dana White prevented him from returning to the UFC by not signing his agreed contract
In a recent appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast, Tim Sylvia spoke about how the UFC weren’t happy with him signing with upstart MMA promotion Affliction after they granted his release.
The 49-year-old is puzzled to this day about why the UFC felt like he was ‘trying to screw them’ after they stated that they wouldn’t be re-signing him at a time where he had one fight left on his contract.
Sylvia went on to talk about how in 2011, he had conversations with the promotion about returning to the Octagon following the purchase of Strikeforce.
The former UFC heavyweight champion’s manager pitched terms that following a proposed return against Daniel Cormier, they would be offered three fights in total regardless of the results.
Sylvia said that while the UFC agreed to this deal, matchmaker Sean Shelby claimed that there was a delay in getting it done because Dana White hadn’t had time to sign it yet.
When there was no update for another week, they reached out again, with Shelby responding that White wasn’t going to sign off on the contract, removing any chance of him making a return.
Tim Sylvia hopes to put his relationship with Dana White aside so that he can tick off one box in his career
The relationship between Tim Sylvia and Dana White hasn’t healed since whatever led to the tension between them in the first place.
However, Sylvia is happy to move on from this and accept that they’ve had their differences in the past but it’s behind them now.
The former champion specifically mentioned during his appearance on the Jaxxon Podcast that he hopes to one day be in the UFC Hall of Fame because of what it would mean to his family.
Unfortunately, given what has happened in the past, this looks unlikely at this time.
“It is what it is. I don’t have a problem with him, I’m too old to have grudges. Honestly, I kind of want to get into the Hall of Fame for my son, so I think I’m kind of being blackballed.”