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The constant criticism, the failed drug test, the array of public relations blunders, and those terribly mundane championship fights — Tim Sylvia could put them all behind him and start fresh this weekend at Cincinnati's first-ever Ultimate Fighting Championship event.

UFC 77 takes place Saturday at U.S. Bank Arena. And while a title fight between UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva and Rich Franklin takes top billing, a heavyweight clash between Sylvia (23-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Brandon Vera (8-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC) suddenly has a whole lot more meaning.

Last week, UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture, a hugely popular 44-year-old UFC hall-of-famer, abruptly resigned from the UFC and surrendered his heavyweight title after a dispute with UFC management.

Prior to Couture, Sylvia owned the belt on two separate occasions, but his reign as a titleholder was far from glorious — even with the auspicious beginning.

Sylvia began his career with 16 consecutive victories, and his 15th (a first-round TKO of Ricco Rodriguez at UFC 41) earned him the heavyweight title. However, he tested positive for an anabolic steroid after his first title defense and was stripped of the belt.

Sylvia would reclaim the title a year later with a first-round TKO of Andrei Arlovski. And though he'd win his next two fights — over Arlovski and Jeff Monson — his new, passive fighting style became the target of criticism. The one-time knockout artist has decision victories in three of his past four wins.

Pundits argue Sylvia cares more about the belt than putting on an exciting performance.

At this same time, Sylvia also has earned criticism outside the octagon. Goofy eBay auctions, exorbitant autograph fees, even an admission that he was dehydrated and inadvertently defecated during a January 2006 fight — all the little blunders started to add up.

Then, Couture came out of retirement and defeated Sylvia in March at UFC 68.

Sylvia underwent back surgery soon after and was largely forgotten.

But the former champ is poised for a big return.

During a media conference call last week, Sylvia sounded uncharacteristically enthused, humbled and genuinely thrilled just to be fighting.

Vera's a legit contender, and if Sylvia can score an impressive knockout or submission — like he did 18 times in his first 19 fights — he'll likely be in line for a title shot.

The heavyweight division is in disarray, and quite simply, fickle fans are always searching for a good comeback story.

Chapter 1 starts Saturday for

Sylvia.

Dann Stupp is founder and editor-in-chief of MMAjunkie.com, a content partner site of Yahoo! Sports. Go to www.mmajunkie.com for the latest news and notes about Saturday's UFC 77 event.