There was much discusson over the weekend that Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was in a dispute with Pride FC management (Dream State Entertainment) over they money being paid for the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix final. I held off writing about the situation because I had a feeling it would sort itself out pretty quickly, and it has.
Reportedly, Cro Cop was unhappy with the $150,000 prize for the OWGP winner since a fighter would need to win two fights in one evening to secure the title. As soon as this news became public, there were reports all over the internet that Cro Cop had received a substantial offer from the World Fighting Alliance and could possibly fight for the WFA in the near future. Scott White at whaledog.com said:
This is a clear sign that 1) Pride’s is on shaky ground since it lost its contract with Fuji T.V., and 2) the WFA has the resources to seriously challenge the UFC.
The new TUF fans may not know who Cro-Cop is, but if the WFA gets the T.V. deal it has been seeking, he is the kind of fighter who can put the organization over the top.
While I agree that signing Cro Cop would be a huge event for any promotion, the WFA included, I don’t know that signing Cro Cop would put the WFA “over the top.” If in the WFA, who would Cro Cop face? The WFA is still early in their rebirth and doesn’t have many heavyweight fighters of any skill right now. Ricco? Bas? Who would he face? Of course, if the WFA could sign Cro Cop they could sign another heavyweight for him to face, but what happens after that first fight? For a fighter of Cro Cop’s skill, you would need several world-class heavyweights. Who has many world-class heavyweights? Pride FC, and only Pride FC at the moment.
But all of this discussion proved to be pointless, as it appears DSE and Cro Cop have come to a financial agreement including additional pay for a second fight should Cro Cop reach the finals.
“I’m happy that we reached an agreement,” said Filipovic. “I will now have a chance to make my sports dream come true: to become an undisputed champion, competing with Silva, Barnett and ‘Minotauro’.”
As much as I would love to see Cro Cop fight in the USA, I do not think having him fight in the WFA makes much sense at the moment. Do you?
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You’re right, there really isn’t anyone for him to fight. Arvloski?…not sure of his status with the ufc. Maybe they could have fed Brock Lesner to him…lol. I wouldn’t be overly surprised to see DSE rent some of their heavyweights to other organizations (ala Wanderlai). Anything they do over here is a win-win situation for them.
Even though i respect fedor as being the greatest heavyweight at this time. i believe mirko with the right game plan would win a rematch, fedor had a better strategy to beat him after watching his brother and his other training partner get their a**es kicked. Mirko could easily fight in the 205 division and destroy anyone in either pride,ufc including chuck liddell. Mirko is developing into the most dangerous,complete fighter of all time. Remember even his losses were not because he is not that great. But because he fights so often and was overtrained, or not healed properly. Fighters like fedor,nog, liddell, vanderlei would not under any circumstance or money fight as often as he has. why? Risk of losing. the only sport i have watched since ufc one has been mma. Being a personal trainer who has been trained by some of the best olympic coaches. I realized their incredible level of conditioning and muscular endurance required to win from that day. What is mirkos salary or rumored salary for the fight with vandrlei?
I’d just love to see Cro Cop vs. Chuck. I know for sure Cro Cop would absolutely dominate his ***. He would beat Chuck like an ugly red-headed step-child. Even better, Cro Cop would smoke Lidell like a cheap cigar!!! Cro Cop is the ultimate and anyone watching his vids will know it!!!