FanHouse TimSylvia

Tim Sylvia has verbally agreed to make his Japanese MMA debut for DREAM on New Year's Eve. Sylvia's agent Monte Cox confirmed the news with FanHouse.

The former UFC heavyweight champion will be a part of the Dynamite!! 2009 MMA/K-1 hybrid show, which has become a yearly tradition in Japan.

Tim Sylvia got back on the winning track in September, defeating the over-matched Jason Riley at Adrenaline MMA 4. "The Maine-iac" broke his hand early in the fight, but according to his agent Monte Cox, the former UFC heavyweight champion got his cast removed on Thursday and will be ready to fight again in December.

In fact, Cox said he has been involved in serious negotiations with both DREAM and Sengoku, and believes Sylvia will fight next on New Year's Eve for either organization.

Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia got back in the win column for the first time in almost two years on Friday night, beating a little-known fighter named Jason Riley by first-round knockout at the Adrenaline MMA show in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

In 2008, Tim Sylvia had two fights: One against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the UFC heavyweight belt, and one against Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA heavyweight belt. He lost both, but no one could dispute that Sylvia was one of the major players in the heavyweight division in MMA.

Fast forward to tonight, when Sylvia will have his second fight of 2009. He lost the first in embarrassing fashion to Ray Mercer, a 48-year-old boxer making his MMA debut, and if he loses the second, he'll be banished to permanent irrelevancy.

Welcome to FanHouse's new and improved MMA podcast. It's so improved that we decided to change its name to FightHouse Radio, tape it from the AOL Studios in Manhattan and stick a video camera in the booth. That's right, you can choose to either download and listen to the show or just watch it below.

In this episode, I am joined by MDS, Mike Chiappetta and AOL Studios' Mike Rubens to talk about the Tim Sylvia vs. Ray Mercer mess, UFC 99 fallout and the weekend ahead in MMA. Oh, we're also joined by WEC featherweight star Urijah Faber (23:00 mark). Enjoy.

Tim Sylvia's shocking nine-second knockout loss to Ray Mercer on Saturday has proven to be more costly than originally thought. Affliction Entertainment vice president, Tom Atencio, informed FanHouse on Monday that Sylvia has now been taken off the upcoming "Affliction: Trilogy" card. "It's his second knockout in a row, and I don't want to take a chance on anything," Atencio said. "The fight is less than 60 days away."

Lost in the aftermath of Tim Sylvia's shocking nine-second knockout loss to Ray Mercer on Saturday night is how it may drastically affected Paul Buentello's summer plans. "The Headhunter" was scheduled to face Sylvia at "Affliction: Trilogy" on August, but is now unsure as to whether or not that fight will happen.

FanHouse spoke to Buentello on Sunday about his thoughts on Sylvia's loss and why he may now have to wait a little longer to face the former UFC heavyweight champion.

Tim Sylvia and Ray Mercer have been struggling to gain media attention for their boxing match ... err, MMA fight on the same weekend as a UFC event.

Sylvia, however, might get the wrong kind of attention for this: the 6-foot-8 former UFC heavyweight champion weighed in at 310.6 pounds for his fight, which will take place on an Adrenaline MMA card in Birmingham, Alabama on Saturday night.

There's an unsanctioned fight Saturday night in Alabama between over-the-hill boxer Ray Mercer and former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, the kind of ridiculous fight that gives combat sports a bad name. But the fight just got even more ridiculous, because just two days beforehand, the promoters have changed it from a boxing match to an MMA fight.

Takanori Gomi (30-5) will not be facing Brett Copper (9-4) at "Affliction: Trilogy" on August 1.

MMA Weekly reported early Thursday morning that the 165-pound catchweight bout was close to being finalized, but Affliction Entertainment VP, Tom Atencio, told FanHouse on Thursday that after brief consideration, the fight is not happening.