Maniacs, calibrate your freak show radar!
Manager Monte Cox has given the green light for his client, former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia (25-6), to verbally agree to his participation in the FieLDS Dynamite!! event on New Year's Eve in Japan, according to MMA Fanhouse.
The tentative all-star line-up for the Dynamite!! 2009 MMA/K-1 hybrid fight card includes such notable names as Kid Yamamoto, Kiyoshi Tamura, Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinya Aoki, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Badr Hari, Jerome Lebanner, Alistair Overeem, and Hong Man Choi.
Make note of the last two names, as they are the likely opponents for Sylvia.
Cox gives his two cents on Sylvia's Japanese debut on the annual FEG-hosted combat sport extravaganza: He thinks that Hong Man Choi is a more judicious choice of an opponent than Alistair Overeem because the "Maine-iac" is currently on the comeback trail.
Since exiting UFC in the wake of his loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 81, Sylvia lost two consecutive bouts to the heavyweight king, Fedor Emelianenko and boxer-turned-MMA fighter, Ray Mercer in a total of 45 seconds.
He restored himself to the winning column with a first-round TKO victory over Jason Riley at an Adrenaline MMA event last month. Though he broke his right hand in the bout, the injury reportedly has fully healed.
Alongside the potential Sylvia-Choi showdown of the giants, the not-so-Hulk-like Super Hulk Tournament finalists, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Ikuhisa Minowa, will square off the tournament gold.
In the K-1 department, the main event of the night will be the farewell bout for the two-time K-1 MAX champion, Masato against a yet-to-be-determined opponent. Masato is scheduled to face either the winner of this year's K-1 MAX tournament or his arch rival, Andy Souwer: The two are not mutually exclusive, as Souwer is one of the four finalists of the K-1 MAX tournament.
For more on FieLDS Dynamite!! click here.
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