Half a dozen UFC veterans, including former heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, will compete at Adrenaline MMA 4 on Friday at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The event will air live on HDNet at 10 p.m. ET.

The 33-year-old Sylvia will throw leather with reigning North American Allied Fight Series heavyweight titleholder Jason Riley in the headliner.

Once viewed as one of the world’s elite heavyweights, Sylvia will return to the cage for the first time since his embarrassing eight-second knockout loss to Ray Mercer in Birmingham, Ala., three months ago. The 6-foot-8 Miletich Fighting Systems product has dropped four of his last five fights, including three in a row. Sylvia, who checked in at more than 300 pounds for his ill-fated encounter with Mercer, has tested himself against some of the sport’s most accomplished big men, from Fedor Emelianenko and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to Andrei Arlovski and Randy Couture.

Other UFC veterans on the Adrenaline MMA 4 card include the hot-and-cold Houston Alexander and former X-1 welterweight champion Chad Reiner.

Alexander, who will lock horns with journeyman Sherman Pendergarst, has not reached the second round in any of his last three appearances, including an eight-second knockout defeat to James Irvin. The 37-year-old Nebraskan has not fought since he submitted to an arm-triangle choke from Eric Schafer more than a year ago.

Reiner, meanwhile, will take on Forrest Petz, who has also spent time in the Octagon. A proven finisher, Reiner has secured 17 of his 21 career wins by KO, technical knockout or submission and will enter the bout with wins in four of his last six fights.

The 33-year-old Petz last appeared at an NAAFS show in June, when he stopped Tiawon Howard on third-round strikes. Victories against Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and the world-ranked Dan Hardy anchor his resume, along with a UFC win over American Top Team’s Luigi Fioravanti.

Adrenaline MMA 4
Friday, Sept. 18
Mid-America Center
Council Bluffs, Iowa

Tim Sylvia vs. Jason Riley
Houston Alexander vs. Sherman Pendergarst
Chad Reiner vs. Forrest Petz
Alonzo Martinez vs. Ryan Williams
Jeremy Lang vs. Matt Delanoit
Joe Vedepo vs. Webster Farris
Jimmy Seipel vs. Bob Tuttle
Todd Meneely vs. Corey McDonald
Dustin Smith vs. Marcos Marquez
Matt Bentley vs. Danny Black
John Hansen vs. Gregg Van der Creek
Dakota Cochrane vs. Bill Holcombe
Ryan Shell vs. Robert Rojas