A bout between castoff heavyweights Tim ‘The Maine-iac’ Sylvia (30-7) and Brett ‘The Grim’ Rogers (11-4) has been confirmed for New Year’s Eve in Japan as part of DREAM’s Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 event.
The bout was confirmed on Wednesday by Heavy.com who learned of the matchup from sources close to the negotiations.
Fight For Japan: Genki Desu Ka Omisoka 2011 is scheduled to take place on December 31 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The event will host the semifinals of the DREAM bantamweight Grand Prix, two title matches, and a possible heavyweight bout featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Satoshi Ishii.
DREAM has yet to announce the Sylvia vs. Rogers bout, which may be in part because Rogers is serving the rest of his 60-day jail sentence for domestic abuse. He is set for release on Dec. 13, having been given a sentence reduction for time served, and will have just 18 days to secure his travel visa and prepare for the bout.
I would probably expect this matchup to fall through. Maybe DREAM can call on Tim Duffee again at the last minute?
Sylvia, a former UFC champion, has been working hard to get back into the Octagon by going 6-1 in his last seven matches. He may have a long way to go yet though, having fought at Super Heavyweight for six of those bouts. His most recent match was last month at the ProElite: Big Guns event, where he earned a unanimous decision over late replacement Andreas Kraniotakes.
Rogers is just 1-4 in his last five bouts and is living through the consequences of his domestic violence arrest earlier this year. The former Strikeforce fighter had his last fight in September, losing a split decision to Eddie Sanchez at the Titan FC 20 event in Kansas. Before that bout he was eliminated from the Strikeforce Heavyweight tournament by current finalist, Josh Barnett, last June at the Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum event.
Japan always seems to be the stage for odd and strange matchups. If this fight does go down, I hope the fans of that island country can appreciate two very large fighters rolling around for three rounds of un-entertaining action.