Tim Sylvia

Latest Updates:-Tim “The Maine-iac” Sylvia’s two title reigns in the Ultimate Fighting Championship seem more remote than ever.

Far less heralded Abe Wagner knocked out Sylvia in 32 seconds on Friday at Titan Fighting Championships 16 in Kansas City. Wagner floored Sylvia with a right hand and continued hitting him on the ground until the referee halted the fight.

It was the third time over the last three years that Sylvia has been overwhelmed in barely half a minute or less.

Sylvia took Friday’s fight against Wagner on barely a month’s notice as a replacement for another UFC veteran, Todd Duffee, who suffered a knockout loss to Alistair Overeem on New Year’s Eve in Japan.

Wagner and Sylvia both have experience working for UFC, but have little in common otherwise.

Sylvia won the UFC heavyweight belt twice while going 9-4 for the company from 2002 to 2008. At one point, he was ranked one of the four best heavyweights in the world.

Wagner never made it to the big show after an unsuccessful stint on Season 10 of UFC’s reality show, The Ultimate Fighter. His lower profile meant he had nothing to lose in agreeing to face Sylvia, despite giving up 53 pounds.

“It’s all upside for me, and it’s a very winnable fight,” Wagner told MMAjunkie.com.

The fitness of Sylvia declined noticeably after his 36-second loss to Fedor Emelianenko in July 2008. He has not made the official 265-pound limit for heavyweights since then, choosing instead to compete as a super heavyweight, a division rarely used in the United States.

Sylvia weighed in Thursday at 311 pounds, one pound more than he did for the June 2009 bout that saw him knocked out in 10 seconds by one punch from former boxing champion Ray Mercer.

More than one veteran of major promotions went to sleep on Friday.

Aaron Derrow rendered Ultimate Fighter veteran Rich Clementi unconscious with a triangle choke in the final round of their lightweight bout. Clementi was dominating the fight until then, landed 79 strikes to Derrow’s nine, according to Compustrike statistics.

Jason High turned out the lights of welterweight Rudy Bears with a guillotine choke just 51 seconds after the fight began. High has fought for Dream, UFC and Affliction. Bears’ record includes bouts for Bellator Fighting Championships and Strikeforce.

Also Friday, former UFC middleweight Drew McFedries scored a third-round technical knockout of Gary Tapusoa. It’s the seventh knockout for McFedries in nine victories.