After conflicting reports and questions about Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's standing with the Japanese-based DREAM organization and the UFC, the Croatian fighter is, in fact, returning to the octagon.
MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com) first reported on Wednesday that Junior Dos Santos (8-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) had been pulled from a UFC 102 bout with Justin McCully, and sources close to the negotiations now tell us he is set to fight fellow heavyweight Filipovic (25-6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 103.
The event takes place Sept. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and airs live on pay-per-view.
It's unknown if the heavyweight clash will serve as the night's main event.
After a nearly two-year-long split from the UFC, Filipovic returned to the organization last month and defeated Mustapha Al Turk at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany. During a media conference call to announce his return and late addition to the UFC 99 card, Filipovic said he considered his first run in the UFC, which included a 1-2 record and losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo, a "black mark" on his career.
Filipovic also said he wanted to make a run at the UFC title with his return to the organization. On the same call, UFC President Dana White announced he had signed Filipovic to a rare one-fight deal – with a verbal agreement that a multi-fight contract would be signed after UFC 99. White said it was the first time in his history with the organization he agreed to such a deal.
However, just hours after the event, White told Yahoo! Sports that Filipovic "[expletived] me" and that the fighter informed him he had signed a three-fight deal with the Japanese-based DREAM organization.
"Isn't that a dirty [expletive] thing to do?" White asked rhetorically after being queried about Filipovic's deal with DREAM. "He [expletived] me. The first time in the history of the company I do one over the phone. He promised me a three-fight deal, and he [expletived] me."
Even as Filipovic told Croatian media outlets that it was a simple misunderstanding and that he hadn't signed with the Japanese promotion, a DREAM official told USA Today the organization had, in fact, secured a deal with Filipovic.
Last week, though, Croatian outlets reported that UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta had flown to the fighter's home and signed Filipovic to a deal that would keep him in the UFC. And on Wednesday, Dos Santos confirmed to GracieMag.com he had been pulled from the UFC 102 card and was slated to fight at UFC 103, possibly against Filipovic in the night's main event.
With his new UFC deal apparently done, Filipovic's current status with DREAM is unknown.
Regardless, Filipovic enters UFC 103 with three wins (and one no-contest) in his past four fights. All three victories came via
Yes, Junior Dos Santos is set to fight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovoc at UFC 103
first-round stoppage, though Filipovic was losing the September 2008 fight with Alistair Overeem before an illegal knee to Filipovic's groin forced a no-contest. There was also some controversy in the win over Al-Turk after the bout's referee didn't see an illegal (and inadvertent) eye poke from Filipovic that forced his opponent to cover up. Filipovic pounced on Al-Turk and forced a first-round TKO stoppage just seconds later.
Prior to the fight, Filipovic said a surgically repaired knee had felt its best in years and that he is again fighting at 100 percent.
He now faces a stern test in Dos Santos, a rising heavyweight contender who followed an upset TKO win over Fabricio Werdum in October with a dominating 54-second knockout of Stefan Struve in February at UFC 95. A win over Filipovic could thrust the Brazilian fighter into immediate title contention.
I'll just watch a live stream online from somewhere if they do.
That's an awesome story, though it could easily have went very very wrong.