Former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia (25-6) is hopeful that he’ll have his next mixed martial arts bout in Japan on New Years Eve.

On Friday Sylvia said that as far as he is concerned he’ll be fighting at the DREAM/World Victory Road “Dynamite!! 2009″ event in Saitama, Japan on Dec. 31st.

Sylvia told MMAjunkie.com that “Monte (Cox) says they’re still interested, so I’m still training like I have a fight later this month.”

If Sylvia finds himself in Japan on Dec. 31, it will be the first time in 31 career bouts the heavyweight fighter has fought outside of America. When asked about possible opponents Sylvia could only speculate on an opponent.

“I’m hearing it’ll be (Hong Man) Choi … but I think Alistair (Overeem) would be a tougher fight,” Sylvia said. “But I really don’t care. I just want to fight. And Japan has always been a dream for me.”

Sylvia put a three fight losing streak to an end after defeating Jason Riley in September via TKO in the first round. Since losing the UFC heavyweight title to Randy Couture at UFC 68 in March of 2007, Sylvia has gone 2-4 with further losses to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Fedor Emelianenko, and former boxing champ Ray Mercer.

The heavyweight did confirm some interest by the Strikeforce organization but has not been offered anything formal.