Nice story in the Bangor Daily News today about former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and his efforts to raise money for an injured fire chief:

Tim Sylvia, the former heavyweight champ for Ultimate Fighting Championship who now competes under Adrenaline MMA, was in Eastbrook on Sunday afternoon to help raise money for McNeil, a former schoolmate and childhood friend of his. Sylvia, an Eastbrook native who graduated from Ellsworth High School in 1992, was a member of the local fire department with McNeil before he found his calling as a professional mixed martial arts fighter in 2000.

Between signing autographs and posing for pictures Sunday, Sylvia said that he wanted to do whatever he could for his childhood friend when he found out what the fire chief had been through. McNeil’s son, 13-year-old Tommy McNeil, died April 19 in the same fire that seriously injured McNeil and destroyed his mobile home on Abbott Lane. State police are still investigating the cause of the early morning blaze.

“As soon as I heard what happened, I was trying to think of what I could do,” Sylvia said, adding that he spent some time hanging out with McNeil on Saturday. “I was really surprised to see how well he was doing.”

Famous fighter pitches in for injured fire chief @ Bangor Daily News