Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (24-4) has left the organization and signed with Adrenaline MMA, a promotion previously known as M-1 Global. Sylvia spent more than five years with the UFC and held the heavyweight belt on two different occasions, had one fight left on his contract with the organization. He says the split with the UFC was mutually agreed upon.

Tim Sylvia is now represented by Cox, who’s also one of the sport’s most prominent fight managers.

Tim Sylvia:

“I’ll be real active, fighting six or seven times a year, 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.”

This is what Cox had to say about Adrenaline MMA.

“It’s a chance for me to build an organization,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.”