PRIDE FC 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix Champion, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, will no longer compete inside the Octagon, signing an undisclosed contract with the newly-minted DREAM promotion, according to Nokaut.com.
He will fight on March 15 against a yet to be named opponent. Lightweights J.Z. Calvan and Shinya Aoki will also fight on the card — it was the only other match announced for the debut show, according to WrestlingObserver.com.
The Croatian still had three fights remaining on a UFC contract that he signed with much fanfare and high expectations toward the tail end of 2006. No details were provided regarding how or the reason he was released from his contract.
However, speculation has swirled that after two losses in three fights the UFC was not willing to pay him the base $350,000 to compete on under card matches (he more than likely pocketed more than that.)
Dave Meltzer indicated in the print edition of the Wrestling Observer newsletter recently that UFC officials were trying to negotiate a new deal that would pay him less … perhaps the “deadline” UFC President Dana White mentioned earlier this month.
Since his Octagon debut against Eddie Sanchez, Cro Cop looked uncomfortable and listless in his new surroundings. And even though he won that fight, he went on to drop his next two bouts — a knockout loss to Gabriel Gonzaga and a lackluster unanimous decision defeat to Cheick Kongo.
It was a far cry from the devastating striker who made a name for himself decapitating people half a world away in Japan. It was also a major disappointment for fans who expected Cro Cop to soar to the top of the heavyweight division.
Oh well.
DREAM is a new collaborative effort between FEG (K-1, HERO’S) and former Dream Stage Entertainment staff (Pride), according to the announcement. Cro Cop was a star in K-1 prior to becoming a star on Pride FC. And he’s still extremely popular in Japan.
He’ll look to regain his old form; however, unless Cro Cop returns to the UFC before he retires he might always be remembered, at least here in the states, for what he didn’t do in the Octagon rather than what he accomplished outside of it.
136 Comments »
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Did anybody see that coming? Just shows you Mirko could not cut it inside the UFC.
I had high hopes for Cro Cop, just like Dana did. Ultimately, though, Mirko was a disappointment and a waste of money.
[quote post=”4920″] had high hopes for Cro Cop, just like Dana did. Ultimately, though, Mirko was a disappointment and a waste of money. [/quote]
I second that.
Damn Cro Cop is so weak. So he decides to leave because he lost 2 in a row. the greatest fighters lose, but come back strong. look at chuck liddell, randy, rampage and many other great fighters. usually if your in a strong devision you will eventually loose to someone. he seems to be so arrogant, like he actually started to believe in his own hype. it actually took two fights in the octagon before he decided to buy a octagon to train in, which makes no sense to me.I already know that if he goes to japan and starts winning against weaker competition, all his die hard fans will be like, cro cops back with his one trick, the lhk. pretty pathetic for someone who was once ranked #2 in the world
daaamn! I really hoped for CC vs Goznaga 2 fight
I never respected Cro cop and if he leaves the UFC confirms what I always said. Cro cop is NOT an MMA fighter. He did well in K1 and kicked some more heads in pride.
His Jiu jitsu = SUCKS
Wrestling = SUCKS
Stan up = Good
The evolution of MMA and coming into the octagon shows who’s who.
I want to see Fedor in the octagon.
Also he would loose with Tim Silvia and randy.
What it suck he goes to Japan to fight who…. How many japan champs do you have in US. They are all little man where he can kick them in the head. Good for you Cro crap, go to a B level.
The dram of pride is over. Pride is OVER.
Compare GSP with Cro crap. Cro crap is just a K1 fighter, GSP is an MMA fighter.
Bye you all.
Can’t say I’m all broken up about it. Hope the new organization works out, though.
I am a major fan of cro cop, was looking forward to seeing a revitalised crop cop come back in serious shape and do serious damage to UFC heavyweights. Im so dissapointed, i thought he wanted to prove himself, looks like hes only in it for the money!
I have higher hopes for a new “pride” than i do for cro cop. He’s probably taking a big step down in competition and more than likely will be remembered exactly as you said; for what he didn’t do in the octagon.
Oh well, no big deal.
Its a shame that he couldn’t bring his pride form over but hey you can’t blame Dana for not wanting to stump up that much money for an undercard fighter.
If you can’t take the heat — do what Fedor does, lower the competition!
Mirko has turned into the new Fedor. He is leaving grade A competiton, to go to some lower bait organization, that will give him nothing but bottom feeders.
Hell, maybe in a year we will see “Fighting Cro Cop” airing living on Japaneese Television.
I just cant see this DREAM organization working. It will pretty much be a copy of Pride and to be honest the concept is pretty much gone. I cant see how he can win as the level of fighters there, for now anyway, will be much inferior to those currently fighting in USA. His reputation is completely gone now. He will only be paired up against C class Japanese fighters. He will probably be their first HW champion but who cares, there is no competition there, not straight away anyway. I dont think we can even consider him being in the top 10 HW in the world after running scared from the UFC and US, definately not top 5.
CroCop = Dissappointment and embarassment
I’m not a die hard cro-cop fan but I’ll give my two cents worth. I doubt that cro-cop is running from the UFC, it sounds to me like the UFC is running from him and I can’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to be Dana White dropping $350K per fight on a guy who doesn’t show up. Seriously, nobody was disappointed after the Gonzaga fight…it was the other two where Mirko didn’t even show up to fight. Yes, he beat Sanchez but it was hardly exciting. I still think Mirko could make it in the Octagon if he was determined to learn to fight there but it seemed to me that he was complacent and didn’t care and for that I wouldn’t pay either.
To quote what someone posted in another thread: “If you can’t beat the best, leave and go fight people smaller than you.”
Very impressive, Mirko. Very impressive…
He needs to fight in Japan, its the only place he can win..
Does any of you speculate that many of the former PRIDE fighters were using steroid when they fought in Japan? They never checked steroid in Japan. Many of them seem a lot weaker in UFC and I was wondering if it had anything to do with less strict regulation and sometimes no testing in Japan.
To bad, he came he saw and was scared shitless. I hope the best for Crocop because I have been a fan of him before I knew who Chuck Liddell was. The UFC is setting the bar , you can’t be a good striker, or a good wrestler, or a good bjj guy, or a good kickboxer , you have to be the best MMA fighter. Good luck Mirko, PRIDE is dead my friend.
freakin’ BS! just because he got kneed in the balls he joins some unknown organization that is most likely going to die after UFC dominates all the other organizations in a few years. Yeah, he is CRO CRAP now….F@CK!
This is like the Patroits asking to play in the CFL next year since they lost to the Giants on the big stage. Some fighters get beat and come back stronger (Chuck, GSP, Randy) others either dont put themselves out there or lose and leave to fight smaller weaker competition (Fedor, Cro Cop) After shogun loses again will he too leave and head to Dream land as well?? What a joke. Cro Cop will always be remembered as the guy who got his head ripped off by GG in the States plain and simple.
You people seem to ignore the fact that this was also in UFC’s absolute best interest. They wanted to renegotiate his contract or cut him due to this cost/performance ratio. From Cro Cop’s viewpoint, he would have had to have taken a major pay cut to stay and the UFC HW Division is falling apart. Plus the cage thing of course. Those are the FACTS as we know them.
Speculation: If he’s had problems with motivation, why not go fight where he’ll be motivated? Anyone who saw his NYE appearance for Hustle could understand how someone would want to go back to that environment rather than being stuck on cards in England with really no upwards mobility for the duration of his contract, and we can be assured there has been a lot of lobbying going on from FEG, probably starting before that NYE-show.
I certainly won’t rule out that an element of cowardism may have played part, but I don’t really see how potential fights with Fedor, Barnett, Couture, Arlovski, Junior Silva and perhaps even Sylvia can be called a step down in competition.
My personal opinion: He was unhappy and went “home” when he got the chance. Plenty of top athletes have done this in the past, and for many, perhaps even most, it turns out to the better for the athlete. Step out, regroup, see where it goes. Fine! Realistically his UFC career wad dead after that Kongo-fight.
I dont think he wanted to quit, the UFC was going to give him a pay cut. That dosnt really make sense even if he is on a losing streak, he can be used to set up up-and-comers. I mean, a win against Cro Cop would be a good way to hype up a risng star, even if he is in the decline of his career(dont even know if thats true). There could have been some sweet matches like Cro Cop v Arlovski or Cro Cop v Silvia. It would have made the UFC some big money, and justified keeping him around. Come on Dana your not willing to pay Mirko 350k but your willing to pay Lesnar 250k. I dont get you bloggers your glad to see Cro Cop leave and excited about Lesnar. If thats how they treat an established fighter after a two fight losing streak, then Lesnar should be fired if he loses his next match.
Cro Cop running scared or the UFC cutting him loose? That is the big question.
I am very interested to find out if/how the UFC got out of Cro Cop’s contract. I am sure that Randy and his lawyers will be examining the fine print of all of this to try and see if they can find a loophole to get Randy away from the UFC for good.
[quote post=”4920″]So he decides to leave because he lost 2 in a row. the greatest fighters lose, but come back strong. look at chuck liddell, randy, rampage and many other great fighters. usually if your in a strong devision you will eventually loose to someone. he seems to be so arrogant, like he actually started to believe in his own hype[/quote]
That was the first time in Cro Cop’s MMA career that he lost 2 consecutive fights. In those 2 fights, he was not fighting against Top 5 HW’s. When he fought in PRIDE, he was constantly facing top competition. He has fought Fedor followed up by fighting Josh Barnett, and he did not lose both of those fights. Those two fights are much more difficult than fights against Gabe and Kongo. I really hope that they get at least one good HW over at DREAM so we can find out if it was the octagon or if Cro Cop is just past his prime done with competing in MMA.
[quote post=”4920″]Compare GSP with Cro crap. Cro crap is just a K1 fighter, GSP is an MMA fighter.
Bye you all. [/quote]
Just curious, but what does GSP have to do with Cro Cop???
Peace CroCrap, never believed all the hype around this guy, he has one weapon thats it.
Still wish that Couture wiped the floor with this chump, but oh well, a no name knocked his chin into the cheap seats.
Just yet another Pride guy that cant hack it in the UFC.
Screw Cro Cop. 2nd best in the world my ass. He’s not even the 2nd best European HW. I hope AA comes over there to kick Cro Cop’s ass then come back to the UFC lol.Or more realistically, have Sergey Kharitonov fight him. Sayonara Cro Cop.
The sad part for me is this is another loss for the UFC HW division. CroCop may have never lived up to the hype but he was still a drawing card for the UFC and the division.
They get out of CroCop’s contract but won’t let Randy out of his….
[quote comment=”309422″]I never respected Cro cop and if he leaves the UFC confirms what I always said. Cro cop is NOT an MMA fighter. He did well in K1 and kicked some more heads in pride.
His Jiu jitsu = SUCKS
Wrestling = SUCKS
Stan up = Good
The evolution of MMA and coming into the octagon shows who’s who.
I want to see Fedor in the octagon.
Also he would loose with Tim Silvia and randy.
What it suck he goes to Japan to fight who…. How many japan champs do you have in US. They are all little man where he can kick them in the head. Good for you Cro crap, go to a B level.
The dram of pride is over. Pride is OVER.
Compare GSP with Cro crap. Cro crap is just a K1 fighter, GSP is an MMA fighter.
Bye you all.[/quote]
this is a really stupid comment all around.
[quote comment=”309460″]Does any of you speculate that many of the former PRIDE fighters were using steroid when they fought in Japan? They never checked steroid in Japan. Many of them seem a lot weaker in UFC and I was wondering if it had anything to do with less strict regulation and sometimes no testing in Japan.[/quote]
Ya think. I’ve been saying that from day one. Do a google search for cheque drops. A coincidence that some of the Pride fighters don’t fight with the same aggression that they did in Pride? Of course the critics will say the that the fighters were tested at Pride 33, an event held in the U.S. I didnt’ see the fight so I can’t say what kindof aggression Wanderlei and the other fighters fought with. Some say Wandy was sick during that fight…was he really sick? All I know is that he didn’t have his trademark stare down face when he fought Chuck and Shogun (hurt knee or not) did not fight with half of the aggression he did in pride.
I hope some big names follow him to this new promotion eventually.
Here’s the reason CC cut and run. I bet the DREAM group will be using a boxing ring for their matches.
HEIWA DREAM.1 Lightweight GP 2008 Opener
Date: March 15th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
LW GP 1st Round Fights:
J.Z. Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki
LW GP Participants:
Andre Dida
Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri
Caol Uno
Joachim Hansen
Gilbert Melendez
Luiz Azeredo
Artur Oumakhanov
Koutetsu Boku
Jung Bu-Kyung
Kazuyuki Miyata
Luiz Firmino
what a damn joke!!
Haha..cro cop didn’t see that highlight KO coming from Gonzaga. I though he had potential but the cage isn’t just made for him.
[quote comment=”309520″][quote comment=”309422″]I never respected Cro cop and if he leaves the UFC confirms what I always said. Cro cop is NOT an MMA fighter. He did well in K1 and kicked some more heads in pride.
His Jiu jitsu = SUCKS
Wrestling = SUCKS
Stan up = Good
The evolution of MMA and coming into the octagon shows who’s who.
I want to see Fedor in the octagon.
Also he would loose with Tim Silvia and randy.
What it suck he goes to Japan to fight who…. How many japan champs do you have in US. They are all little man where he can kick them in the head. Good for you Cro crap, go to a B level.
The dram of pride is over. Pride is OVER.
Compare GSP with Cro crap. Cro crap is just a K1 fighter, GSP is an MMA fighter.
Bye you all.[/quote]
this is a really stupid comment all around.[/quote]
Agreed.
[quote comment=”309415″]Damn Cro Cop is so weak. So he decides to leave because he lost 2 in a row. the greatest fighters lose, but come back strong. look at chuck liddell, randy, rampage and many other great fighters. usually if your in a strong devision you will eventually loose to someone. he seems to be so arrogant, like he actually started to believe in his own hype. it actually took two fights in the octagon before he decided to buy a octagon to train in, which makes no sense to me.I already know that if he goes to japan and starts winning against weaker competition, all his die hard fans will be like, cro cops back with his one trick, the lhk. pretty pathetic for someone who was once ranked #2 in the world[/quote]
The difference being that Dana never tried to make chcuk take less money to fight after 2 losses. Why should he have to take a paycut. No one said that Chuck was a pussy for getting his ass handed to him by Rampage in Pride. Some people are meant to fight in a ring and some the octagon. I’m sure that had Dana not tried to lowball him he would have fought again inside the Octagon. and before anyone says that he didn’t deserve the money because he lost 2 times in a row. A lot of guys do but don’t have to take paycuts. Danan may be the cheapest bastard alive. It’s funny when pro wrestlers make more money in the WWE than a real fighter makes.
As much as I respect Cro Cop, I don’t see his departure as a bad thing. It shows that the UFC has some integrity in their assessment for internal rankings. The fact that they had an uncomfortable time paying him for the ranking he deserves somewhat shows that the UFC is not willing to budge. Am I wrong?
Cro Cop is a puss, I wish he didn’t decide to bounce outta tha UFC like this, but if he can’t hang it there just cause he isn’t winning then fuck him hes gay. I lost a lot of respect for him cause of this move.
I think it’s great that Cro Cop wants to go back to Japan and help upstart a new PRIDE. Kudos Cro Cop. Best of luck to you.
damn, thats bad news. I was hoping he would rematch gonzaga…ah well i just hope he gets back in the cage one day - i think he will be around for another good 3 years, at least.
Anyone who thinks Cro Cop is a “wus” should step into the ring with him. His style just doesn’t match up to the octagon well. Check out a highlight reel of his and still tell me he’s a wus. Good luck to him…I hope the new organization does well.
He would have made a great light-heavyweight..
This is too bad, I will be sorry to see him go elsewhere. Maybe he needed more time to adapt. Hell, Chuck just lost two in a row in the same fashion. Are they ready to ship him out or cut his pay? I know the Iceman has more marketability in the US but CroCop IS a top level MMA athlete and should be in the UFC.
Here is another instance where the UFC’s payroll is messing up the roster. They want Randy to honor his contract but then do not want to honor their end of CroCops deal, which they agreed upon. So they just dump him off to Japan.
Dana and the UFCs antics are getting old
[quote post=”4920″]It’s funny when pro wrestlers make more money in the WWE than a real fighter makes. [/quote]
Fake wrestlers must put on a show like 5 nights a week. Real fighters have to fight like 3 times a year. From a financial standpoint,
5 x 52 weeks = 260 sold out venues per year
compared to
3 sold out venues per year.
So clearly, fake wrestling is able to bring in more revenue from a “ticket”/”gate” perspective.
I think Cro Cop has made a good decision, but poor on the part of the UFC, who have cut and run or lowballed many top tier fighters. I believe Cro Cop deserved a possibly pay cut after that 2-fight losing streak, but so did Chuck (but Dana wouldn’t do that to poster-boy Chuck would he?), and I don’t even want to get into the Arlovski situation (3 win streak = not title shot, but 1 win ’streak’, boring-fighter Sylvia does?). This was an issue of money, not opponents, and the UFC is crap when it comes to money, huge payouts to marketable people, but merit means little apparently (where’s Thiago Silva or Machida’s title shots when they put up unbeaten records, but Forrest Griffin beats 1 top ranked guy and gets to star in new TUF and gets title shot?), its all money and exposure over merit.
As for Dream, looks good. Their opening event looks impressive from a lightweight perspective. As for competition being weak in Japan, I think that’s crap, just because they haven’t fought in the ‘almighty’ octagon doesn’t automatically make them second-tier fighters.
Crocop is a SMALL heavyweight (especially in America), I would have liked to see him finish his remaining 2 fights in the UFC at 205…
Crocop vs Keith Jardine or Chuck would have been great to see… Perhaps even Crocop vs Houston Alexander…
Crocop should be fighting at 205… Not heavyweight…
[quote comment=”309475″]Cro Cop running scared or the UFC cutting him loose? That is the big question.
I am very interested to find out if/how the UFC got out of Cro Cop’s contract. I am sure that Randy and his lawyers will be examining the fine print of all of this to try and see if they can find a loophole to get Randy away from the UFC for good.
[quote post=”4920″]So he decides to leave because he lost 2 in a row. the greatest fighters lose, but come back strong. look at chuck liddell, randy, rampage and many other great fighters. usually if your in a strong devision you will eventually loose to someone. he seems to be so arrogant, like he actually started to believe in his own hype[/quote]
That was the first time in Cro Cop’s MMA career that he lost 2 consecutive fights. In those 2 fights, he was not fighting against Top 5 HW’s. When he fought in PRIDE, he was constantly facing top competition. He has fought Fedor followed up by fighting Josh Barnett, and he did not lose both of those fights. Those two fights are much more difficult than fights against Gabe and Kongo. I really hope that they get at least one good HW over at DREAM so we can find out if it was the octagon or if Cro Cop is just past his prime done with competing in MMA.
[quote post=”4920″]Compare GSP with Cro crap. Cro crap is just a K1 fighter, GSP is an MMA fighter.
Bye you all. [/quote]
Just curious, but what does GSP have to do with Cro Cop???[/quote]
Good Post. I am very curious to see the caliber of opponents he faces over in Japan. I know he will warm up against a Japanease Can who has heart and will take a huge beating. As Mike pointed out, Hopefully he eventually gets tested by a top notch opponent to find out if he is really DONE or just wasnt built for the UFC
I was disapointed for a minute….then I thought about how poorly he perfromed against Kongo. Kongo is essentially the same fighter as Cro Cop is. Mirko couldn’t even beat him. He is now an after thought of what could of been. It’s time to move on. I compare Cro Cop to Jordan in a Wizards jersey…
sad to see him go, well with the 350 g’s they saved they should go sign tito and andre with the money. they need to keep arlovski now with cro cop gone, randy, and arlovski there isn’t any main competition anywhere from who frank mir and werdum give me a break they need to sign some guys
CRO COP CLARIFICATION!
From Cindy Ortiz on the UG
From: CindyO
Date: 02/13/08 06:02 AM
Member Since: 02/10/2006
4234 Total Posts Ignore User
I just talked to DW and this is what he had to say:
The split was amicable and the terms were decided on in advance. Cro Cops $350k (plus bonuses) contract had a clause in it stating that if he lost two consecutive fights Zuffa had the right to void the existing agreement and negotiate a new one.
CC never dreamed that he would be so overwhelmed by the level of competition he has faced in the UFC so far and and the losses have impacted him mentally.
The UFC did NOT cut Cro Cop from the roster nor did they threaten to make him sit out until his contract expired if he didn’t take the pay cut deal.
Rather than negotiate a new contract with the UFC right now (and risk racking up more losses), Cro Cop wants to get a couple of tune up fights (and wins) in some of the smaller shows (no more tune up matches for him in the UFC) in hopes of rebuilding his confidence and getting himself back on track.
DW understood completely and supported Cro Cop in his decision. The last thing DW wants to do is shell out a six-figure purse to a fighter that isn’t fighting worth a dayum. Even though it would have been lower than the original figure, it would still be a waste of money and resources.
Cro Cops ultimate goal is to win the UFC HW championship belt and DW believes he still has the potential to accomplish that goal. CC’s plan when he signed with the UFC was, “I will become Champion after three matches. I will need two and a half or three months off between each match. I expect to hold the UFC belt by the Summer. Then I want Pride Champion Fedor Emelianenko, Vs Me the UFC Heavyweight Champion on New Years Eve.”
This is from Cindy Ortiz a very very reliable source.
[quote comment=”309620″][quote post=”4920″]It’s funny when pro wrestlers make more money in the WWE than a real fighter makes. [/quote]
Fake wrestlers must put on a show like 5 nights a week. Real fighters have to fight like 3 times a year. From a financial standpoint,
5 x 52 weeks = 260 sold out venues per year
compared to
3 sold out venues per year.
So clearly, fake wrestling is able to bring in more revenue from a “ticket”/”gate” perspective.[/quote]
“FAKE” wrestlers have to make a LOT of sacrifices, such as being away from their families for 300 days per year, working while injured (benoit for example worked for over a year with 3 herniated disks in his neck and finally had surgery when one of them exploded). so yeah, they make a lot of money, but like Brock Lesnar decided, the money wasn’t worth the disadvantages that went with it and he walked away from making millions of dollars per year.
i don’t either way you look at it its a lose lose situation for crocop. If he looses in Japan he is officialy done with MMA and if he lets say becomes champ over there nobody will really care but instead say oh well he can do it in japan but not in the top elite organization.
But he isn’t retiring and why would he. He is gona make some money beating up cans which i would too and hell i’ll even take a beating for some money too. Well CC good luck.
Gotta wish the guy luck. Hope he gets back to form and maybe makes a return to the UFC. His leaving is sad and hes leaving a sad division.
[quote comment=”309665″]CRO COP CLARIFICATION!
From Cindy Ortiz on the UG
From: CindyO
Date: 02/13/08 06:02 AM
Member Since: 02/10/2006
4234 Total Posts Ignore User
I just talked to DW and this is what he had to say:
The split was amicable and the terms were decided on in advance. Cro Cops $350k (plus bonuses) contract had a clause in it stating that if he lost two consecutive fights Zuffa had the right to void the existing agreement and negotiate a new one.
CC never dreamed that he would be so overwhelmed by the level of competition he has faced in the UFC so far and and the losses have impacted him mentally.
The UFC did NOT cut Cro Cop from the roster nor did they threaten to make him sit out until his contract expired if he didn’t take the pay cut deal.
Rather than negotiate a new contract with the UFC right now (and risk racking up more losses), Cro Cop wants to get a couple of tune up fights (and wins) in some of the smaller shows (no more tune up matches for him in the UFC) in hopes of rebuilding his confidence and getting himself back on track.
DW understood completely and supported Cro Cop in his decision. The last thing DW wants to do is shell out a six-figure purse to a fighter that isn’t fighting worth a dayum. Even though it would have been lower than the original figure, it would still be a waste of money and resources.
Cro Cops ultimate goal is to win the UFC HW championship belt and DW believes he still has the potential to accomplish that goal. CC’s plan when he signed with the UFC was, “I will become Champion after three matches. I will need two and a half or three months off between each match. I expect to hold the UFC belt by the Summer. Then I want Pride Champion Fedor Emelianenko, Vs Me the UFC Heavyweight Champion on New Years Eve.”
This is from Cindy Ortiz a very very reliable source.[/quote]
Wait so what does this mean that he will be back in UFC at some point? Becauese if thats the case then i will take my comments back about Crocop.
lol i guess he learned from Fedor that you can make more money smashing cans. Recycling sure is popular with these “unstoppable beasts”.
If he doesnt eventually come back to the UFC and prove himself, his legacy will be seriously tarnished. Mirko is a PROUD guy and as a fighter I dont think he wants to retire without avenging the embaressment he has suffered in America. I expect his PRIDE to bring him back to the UFC after he beats up on a few Japanease CANS
[quote comment=”309534″]HEIWA DREAM.1 Lightweight GP 2008 Opener
Date: March 15th, 2008
Place: Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan
LW GP 1st Round Fights:
J.Z. Calvan vs. Shinya Aoki
LW GP Participants:
Andre Dida
Mitsuhiro Ishida
Tatsuya Kawajiri
Caol Uno
Joachim Hansen
Gilbert Melendez
Luiz Azeredo
Artur Oumakhanov
Koutetsu Boku
Jung Bu-Kyung
Kazuyuki Miyata
Luiz Firmino[/quote]
Is this true? R they really having a lightweight grand prix with all these amazing fighters or is this just speculation and wishful thinking? I hope this turns out true. I know Gomi is signed to WVR, but I will be surprised if a lightweight grand prix takes place in Japan and Gomi isnt a part of it. If this event actually takes place Gopmi cant be a part of it because he will be facing Duane Ludwig in March. It will be realy interesting to see who wins out of this impressive talent pool of lightweights
As an mma fan this is biggest insult I have seen in my life This guy is shame for all the fans that have followed his career as a fighter.Going to another organization to fight because you lost the last two fights.I’d better stop writing this shit.All I have to say I will never buy any of his fights.
he will be back.
This is going to be the trend for these older washed up has beens….CroCrap..Fedor..soon, Tito and Randy. They are all going to chase the cash instead of fighting against the best in the world. They will be getting paid on name recognition only.
It sucks he left but it never hurts to have more MMA. If he helps make this new organization a success good for him and it and us. I like the UFC and think it has most of the best fighters but I like to watch other organizations as well. Hope the best for CroCop and his new home(hopefully for just a little while).
[quote comment=”309476″]Just yet another Pride guy that cant hack it in the UFC.[/quote]
Hahaha oh yeah? Just like Anderson Silva, Rampage and Big Nog right??? Three out of 5 UFC belts held by former PRIDE fighters. I’m not saying Pride is better than UFC and I have never believed that, but to say pride fighters can’t hack it in the UFC is just a really dumb statement.
i don’t get it, liddell lost 2 in a row. The keyboard warriors didn’t crap all over him the way they are CC. everyone loses. stop talking junk.
[quote comment=”309667″][quote comment=”309620″][quote post=”4920″]It’s funny when pro wrestlers make more money in the WWE than a real fighter makes. [/quote]
Fake wrestlers must put on a show like 5 nights a week. Real fighters have to fight like 3 times a year. From a financial standpoint,
5 x 52 weeks = 260 sold out venues per year
compared to
3 sold out venues per year.
So clearly, fake wrestling is able to bring in more revenue from a “ticket”/”gate” perspective.[/quote]
“FAKE” wrestlers have to make a LOT of sacrifices, such as being away from their families for 300 days per year, working while injured (benoit for example worked for over a year with 3 herniated disks in his neck and finally had surgery when one of them exploded). so yeah, they make a lot of money, but like Brock Lesnar decided, the money wasn’t worth the disadvantages that went with it and he walked away from making millions of dollars per year.[/quote]
Thank you. I never understood all the crap that pro wrestlers get. I’ve never justified them being real pro athletes or fighters, but their line of work is one of the toughest to be in. America is supposed to be about the blue-collar worker. Well, being a pro-wrestler is as blue-collar as it gets. A lot of them grind it out to make money for themselves and their family.
I know with out a shadow of a doubt Mirko will be back in the UFC. He wants to get his confidence and fire back to compete by getting some wins under his belt in Japan then come back to the UFC. Ths way he can still make a boat load of money overseas which he will and come back to the ufc stronger and re-focused
I saw some training photos of Mirkos gym He now has a huge ufc logo and his new octogon, hardly sounds like a person who is turning his back on the ufc for good.
And you know he was watching UFC 81 where nogiera became the new UFC HW champion a guy who mirko was all but beating single handedly until a fight ending arm bar. You can only imagine that as cro cop was watching that fight with the fire and passion to win ufc gold burning on all cylinders inside of him.
Hopefully cc will Kick some heads off in Japan and regain his killer instinct and come back to the UFC. Its not looking good in the hvwt divsion.
Go back to the minors, Cro Crop. Don’t come back until you are ready for another beating.
I am a huge fan of Cro Cop, but this is seriously the most disapointing aspect of his career thus far, not even the losses to gonzaga or kongo make me as upset as this move. Here’s hoping he comes back in a year and actually makes a statement because his legacy in the states is pathetic.
dreamy..
[quote comment=”309825″][quote comment=”309667″][quote comment=”309620″][quote post=”4920″]It’s funny when pro wrestlers make more money in the WWE than a real fighter makes. [/quote]
Fake wrestlers must put on a show like 5 nights a week. Real fighters have to fight like 3 times a year. From a financial standpoint,
5 x 52 weeks = 260 sold out venues per year
compared to
3 sold out venues per year.
So clearly, fake wrestling is able to bring in more revenue from a “ticket”/”gate” perspective.[/quote]
“FAKE” wrestlers have to make a LOT of sacrifices, such as being away from their families for 300 days per year, working while injured (benoit for example worked for over a year with 3 herniated disks in his neck and finally had surgery when one of them exploded). so yeah, they make a lot of money, but like Brock Lesnar decided, the money wasn’t worth the disadvantages that went with it and he walked away from making millions of dollars per year.[/quote]
Thank you. I never understood all the crap that pro wrestlers get. I’ve never justified them being real pro athletes or fighters, but their line of work is one of the toughest to be in. America is supposed to be about the blue-collar worker. Well, being a pro-wrestler is as blue-collar as it gets. A lot of them grind it out to make money for themselves and their family.[/quote]
This is an mma site. Not a blue collar worker defense site. If you want to pitty guys who chose the dangerous career they use to support their lifestyle, watch Dirty Jobs or something.
[quote post=”4920″]Cro Cop running scared or the UFC cutting him loose? That is the big question.[/quote]
Yeah I wonder. I said the other day I had a bad feeling in my gut about this. It’s a pity, I expected great things from this guy.
Fair enough he beat the snot out of all these undersized guys in Pride but he also whupped Nog until Nog does what Nog does (actually that might not be a great example; everyone looks like they’ve won after a fight with him), he put a beatdown on Barnett 3 times. Wanderlei Silva, Coleman and Randleman. Throw A. Emelianenko into the mix. Heath Herring too for what it’s worth. Even Fedor said Crocop was his toughest fight to date. He’s also been in there with Mark Hunt.
As much as I like him, how did he go from Crocop to Crocrap? Did he ‘roid up? (Still don’t think so). Sincerely hope not. I pretty much said before that there was no way he would.
Unfortunately, due to his lacklustre tenure in the UFC, the casual fan will always remember him as the guy that couldn’t cut it with the top dogs (hahaha…Kongo a top dog yeah right).
I wish him the best, but that belt in DREAM is worthless until we see what top guys they can snap up (none at the moment it seems). It pains me to say it but he looks like a dog running away with his tail between his legs.
Question: Was it a matter of the UFC trying to pay him less for his remaining fights on his contract or trying to sign him to a new one worth way less. I reckon it must be the formerbecause why would you want to resign him at all based on his poor displays to date.
Here’s the thing I would respect him more if he had said that the management were treating him like $h!t and he was going to retire or go to M-1 for some unfinished business with a certain Russian cyborg or K-1 proper, not this new mma start up. If he wins against a couple of hams no one will give him credit and rightly so.
He mustn’t have any interest anymore in being the best. His fighting career is about money now it seems (not that he needs it as far as I’m aware). Hmmm, maybe he’d be more suited to the WWE or that Japanese wrestling org. Oh yeah his wrestling sucks lol.
No more war the futhamuckin’ crocop…Until he announces a cross promotional bout with Fedor. That would win me over again. Please let it be so.
It’s kinda simple given what I’ve heard. Dana wanted him to reform his contract, Cro Cop said a contract is a contract, and Dana used his trump card by threatening to shelf him for the duration of the contract. WTF? I thought Randy was supposed to honor his cotnract but Dana can repudiate his obligations when it comes to CRo Cop’s contract. What a loser. For all he’s accomplished, he’s managing the UFC while it is at its peak horribly. Be a professional. Now you have potentially Arlovski, Cro Cop, Randy, Fedor, and Josh Barnett all outside the UFC’s heavyweight division! Great job.
Both parties involved have egg on their faces.
This is rigoddamndiculous. I did see that Dream’s rules will be to only utilize on method of strikes, ex. punch, knee, left high kick etc… with no wrestling or clinching. Good luck sell out. Thanks for increasing the pay per view price on your way out!