UFC Will Keep Door Open for Cro Cop

Mirko Cro Cop has found a new home and has said he's completely happy being back in Japan. He is quite possibly Japan's 2nd favorite fighter, next to Fedor Emelianenko.

He stated he never felt comfortable in the cage, never got used to elbow strikes, basically didn't like the style of fighting the UFC offered. Yet, he never got on Dana White's bad side so he'll be welcome back with open arms if he ever wanted fight again for the UFC.

Let me get this straight. Dana White paid just over a million dollars for Cro Cop to fight 3 horrible fights, let the guy bolt the organization, but will welcome him back if he ever wanted to fight for him again.

Again, it's whoever Dana White likes. As long as you don't ruffle the president's feathers, all is fine and you get your pick of the litter. State your opinion and you get thrown to the bottom of the totum pole, or fired from the organization. It's really turning into the WWE.

I'm probably always going to watch the UFC because there are some great fighters that I love watching, but I won't be surprised to see another organization eventually topple them over. It'll be a while before that happens but believe me, as long as Dana White has his power trip over everyone, it's gonna happen.

Matt Lindland: "UFC Refuses to Negotiate New Deal"

As perennially top ranked middleweight Matt “The Law” Lindland (20-5 MMA, 9-3 UFC) readies to sign a new fight contract, one organization has already been ruled out: the UFC.

"I made it very clear to Dana (White), and he’s the final decision-maker on all that stuff,” Lindland said. “I made it very clear that I was looking for them to make me an offer. I said, ‘Make me an offer, and let’s talk. Let’s do business.’ I got back a, ‘We’re not going to make you any kind of an offer’ response."

Lindland said it was not even White that delivered the disappointing message, but rather UFC matchmaker Joe Silva.

“Joe actually responded back to me and said, ‘Dana is not going to make you an offer of any kind,’” Lindland said.

The relationship between Lindland and the UFC has been strained since the fighter was fired in August 2005, two days after his victory over Joe Doerksen at UFC 54. Lindland was told the reason for the termination was that he wore the logo of an unapproved sponsor to the weigh-ins.

“There’s a lot of other people that had similar sponsors, or unapproved sponsors, (and they) weren’t suspended,” Lindland said of his sports-book sponsor. “They didn’t fire me for doing that. They fired me the next day after I fought. You know, I didn’t wear the sponsor into the ring. There’s guys that have worn similar sponsors — or even the same company — into the ring that didn’t get fired. I didn’t wear it into the ring. I wore it at the weigh-ins. That’s a crazy reason to fire someone."

Matt Lindland is very well respected in the MMA world. Dana White, if he does have personal issues, needs to grow up a bit. This is a guy that could make some serious noise in the UFC and White wants nothing to do with him. Does he really think that Lindland isn't needed?

It's no secret that Dana White did a super job in promoting the UFC and took some serious chances that paid off for him. However, the writing is on the wall that he could also be the cause of the UFC's demise.

Cro Cop Leaves UFC to Fight For 'Dream' in Japan

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.

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.

The Croatian still had two 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.)

It's obvious that Dana White tried to re-structure his contract which would pay him less over his last 2 fights given his performance in his first 3 fights. That's probably what the so-called deadline was about.

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.

His legacy will be tarnished and it's uncertain if he will ever regain his dominant form. He looked uncomfortable and very beatable in the UFC. Very different from his intimidating, ferocious style that warranted a fearsome reputation. This will go under the classic definition of a 'Bust'. Even if he shows signs of becoming the feared fighter he once was, he'll always be remembered for looking very mediocre in the octagon.

UFN 13 Keeps Getting Better

“The Ultimate Fighter 6” cast members George Sotiropoulos (8-2 MMA, 1-0 UFC) and Roman Mitichyan (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) will meet April 2 at UFC Fight Night 13.

Sotiropoulos, a semifinalist on the show, earned victories Jared Rollins and Richie Hightower before he was stopped by eventual show runner-up Tommy Speer in the show’s semifinals. The 30-year-old then returned at the show’s live finale and defeated Billy Miles with a first-round submission. The Australian is now training with UFC welterweight champ Matt Serra, who served as his coach on “The Ultimate Fighter."

Mitichyan was also a cast member on the show, though his stint would be a short one. The Armenia showed up in Las Vegas with a pre-existing elbow injury. After an X-ray revealed that it was a broken bone, he was sent home and replaced by John Koppenhaver. However, the UFC invited him to compete at the show’s live finale, where he scored a stunning, 23-second submission (via achilles lock) of Dorian Price.

Mitichyan also showed great immaturity by trashing a Doctor's office when we was told the news he wouldn't be able to compete. Some people thought it was just Mitichyan showing emotion that he couldn't fight but it was a complete lack of class on his part. He called out the Doctor saying he didn't know what he was talking about and he was surprised he got a medical license.

How he wasn't punished for his behavior is beyond me. There's a true double standard that the UFC follows but it has no consistency.

Either way, this is a fight I would like to see. The card now has 10 fights yet the program is only 2 hours long. I'm not the genius that people think Dana White is but there's 6 great fights that we're never gonna get to see. To me, that's plain stupid.

Tim Boetsch Fights Again on Short Notice

Tim Boetsch will again step up for the Ultimate Fighting Championship on short notice, this time taking over for the injured Stephan Bonnar. He will take on Matt Hamill as a part of the April 2 UFC Fight Night in Broomfield, Colo. as confirmed by MMAWeekly.com with sources close to the fight.

Boetsch made a very impressive debut for the UFC just earlier this month, finishing David Heath in the first round. He took the bout on extremely short notice when Heath’s original opponent dropped out due to injury.

The Pennsylvania-based light heavyweight looked devastating in his first fight with the UFC, displaying strong stand-up and tremendous power throughout his match-up with Heath.

Hamill is fighting for the first time since his very controversial decision loss to Michael Bisping at UFC 75 in September.

No official word from the UFC if the bout will be on the main card as Bonnar vs. Hamill was originally intended to be, but an announcement about the final card is expected in the near future.

WEC: Condit vs. Prater Live Tomorrow Night on Versus

“WEC: Condit vs. Prater,” which includes an impressive lineup with a total of three title fights, takes place at the Santa Ana Star Center in Albuquerque, N.M.. The event airs live on the Versus network beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

The New Mexico Athletic Commission allows a one-pound allowance for all non-title fighters. However, all three WEC champs — welterweight champ Carlos Condit, lightweight champ Rob McCullough and bantamweight champ Chase Beebe — and their opponents all made weight.

Featherweight Micah Miller, who takes on Chance Farrar in a preliminary bout, weighed in at 147.5 lbs. — a pound and a half over the 146-lb. limit, according to WEC.tv. He’ll have an additional hour to make weight or risk losing part of his purse.

Wednesday’s event, which is the first WEC show of the 2008 fight season, is the first-ever event outside of Las Vegas for the organization since it was purchased by Zuffa LLC, the UFC’s parent company, more than a year ago.

The full weigh-in results included:

MAIN CARD

* Champ Carlos Condit (167.5) vs. Carlo Prater (170) — for welterweight title
* Champ Rob McCullough (155) vs. Jamie Varner (155) — for lightweight title
* Champ Chase Beebe (135) vs. Miguel Torres (133.5) — for bantamweight title
* Antonio Banuelos (136) vs. Manny Tapia (135)
* Leonard Garcia (145) vs. Hiroyuki Takaya (143)

PRELIMINARY CARD

* Mark Hominick (146) vs. Josh Grispi (143)
* Del Hawkins (135) vs. Coty Wheeler (134.5)
* Yoshiro Maeda (136) vs. Charlie Valencia (136)
* Chance Farrar (146) vs. Micah Miller (147.5)*
* Scott Jorgensen (136) vs. Damacio Page (135)

* — Miller will get a second chance to make the 146-lb. limit.

Gary Shaw: Dana White Ruined Brock Lesnar

EliteXC president Gary Shaw appears to be stooping down to Dana White's level in the smack talking department. Here's what he had to say about Brock Lesnar.

“I like Brock, but it just shows that Dana doesn’t know what he’s doing. Every time he signs someone, they get beat right away. I guess if you want to get beat right away, you should go to the UFC. It’s like I said all along, Dana didn’t invent mixed martial arts, he doesn’t own the best fighters in the world and he doesn’t have the best fights in the world. He should come down and look at our show, although I’m sure he watches them free on Showtime. I feel badly because Brock could’ve been a star and he ruined him right off of the bat. It was a bad match-up.”

I used to think that Gary Shaw made some valid points at times but he's rapidly losing his credibility. Brock Lesnar is far from being ruined. He's right that it was a bad match-up but did he not see that Lesnar was pummeling Mir for 80 seconds of the 90 second fight? Hey, a loss is a loss but you can look good in a loss. Lesnar will be a force in the future and make the UFC a ton of money.

It sounds like Gary Shaw is glad Lesnar lost and is rooting for him to not succeed since he didn't land the former WWE champion.

Josh Haynes Replaces Benji Radach In IFL

MMA veteran Josh "Bring the Pain" Haynes, who has competed for a dozen professional mixed martial arts organizations, including the UFC, will compete at 185-lb. against Leopoldo Serao at the International Fight League event at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas on Friday, February 29.

Haynes replaces popular IFL star Benji Radach who suffered a neck injury in training and will be out of action indefinitely.

Haynes, who has competed on the pro MMA circuit since 2002, is perhaps best known for his time on The Ultimate Fighter television program in 2006, in which he advanced to the finals. On Feb. 29, he will compete for his camp, Xtreme Couture, against World Class Fight Center's Serao.

Also on the card, Team Quest, coached by Matt Lindland, faces Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den, with title fights between lightweight champ Ryan Schultz and John Gunderson, heavyweight title holder Roy Nelson taking on Fabiano Scherner, and middleweight belt holder Matt Horwich facing Miletich fighter Ryan McGivern.

Stephan Bonnar Out for Ultimate Fight Night 13

Stephan Bonnar has been forced to pull out of his upcoming bout with Matt Hamill at UFC Fight Night on April 2 due to tearing ligaments in his leg during training that will keep him out of action for approximately six months.

Bonnar hurt his knee while working on his jiu-jitsu in preparation for the bout with Hamill, which was planned to be a part of the televised portion of the event leading into the seventh season of the Ultimate Fighter.

The injury was diagnosed as a full tear of his ligaments, which will require surgery that will place a replacement ligament from a cadaver into Bonnar’s leg. Bonnar said, "What really sucks is that if you break your leg, it feels really bad, but you get on crutches and you sit out six weeks and then you're back and you're good to go. In this case, there isn't the pain like a broken leg, but I'm out six months instead of six weeks."

After a suspension that kept him out of action for many months, Bonnar returned to the Octagon with back-to-back wins over Mike Nickels and Eric Schaefer respectively.

It appears the UFC still intends to keep Hamill on the fight card but no replacement has been named yet. There is still over 6 weeks until the night of the fight so there is plenty of time to find a capable opponent.

Cro Cop Still Needs Time

Mirko Cro Cop issues a statement on his personal blog — he had indicated previously that today would be the day that the Croatian would reveal his future plans. Looks as if we’ll have to wait a little while longer … perhaps something is in the works.

Last week, UFC President Dana White issued a deadline for the 2006 Pride FC Open Weight Grand Prix Champion to make a decision regarding his future. Cro Cop, on the other hand, seemed caught off guard by the brinkmanship. There’s clearly some miscommunication.

Here's a snip of what Cro Cop said:

“I promised to share some news with you today and I feel bad by not doing so. There are some reasons for this that I can’t speak of at the moment. However, I promise to make the statement as soon as possible. Thank you for supporting me and I hope that little more patience is not too much to ask.”

Cote Out, Day In at UFC 83

Patrick Cote has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 83 bout against Alan Belcher due to an undisclosed injury. There has not been any official confirmation from the UFC, but Belcher is still reportedly fighting at UFC 83, now facing a different Canadian. Coming off of two straight victories in the Octagon, Belcher will attempt to keep his streak alive by facing Jason Day.

Day is on a winning streak of his own, now at four straight. He recently fought on the Hardcore Championship Fighting event in Calgary, winning a split decision over UFC veteran David Loiseau.

The fight card for UFC 83 stands at 10 bouts, although only nine have been announced by the UFC.

Fellow's: Kimbo Slice Might be for Real

There's a great you tube video of Goldberg visiting 'Kimbo Slice' for a training session as he's preparing for his upcoming fight with 'Tank' Abbott. All I have to say is Mr. Slice might be for real boys.

He's shed a ton of weight since his street fighting internet days and looks like he's not depending on brawling anymore. Obviously he has a ton to prove in order to shed the stigma of his bouncer days but it looks like he's way ahead of schedule.

No one has ever questioned Tank Abbott's reputation for fighting but he's hardly the measure of a great fighter. However, Kimbo should run through him and we might hear about him in the near future.