duke09

A recent article on the Croatian news site Vecernji-list claimed that Pride Open Weight Grand Prix Champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic would be offered a contract to fight in the UFC.

Mirko has one more fight left on his Pride contract, so he will be a free agent after his fight on New Year's Eve against a currently unannounced opponent.

According to the supposed contract, as reported by Vecernji-list, Mirko would be offered a $1 million signing bonus in a deal that would secure the Croatian star to the UFC for six fights. Moreover, Mirko would supposedly earn $1.2 million for his first two fights in the UFC, $2 million for the two fights thereafter, and an undisclosed amount for the final two fights on the contract.

The specifics of the contract don't appear to be anything more than speculation, allegedly stemming from an airline passenger who claimed to have looked over the shoulder of a UFC official during a flight.

Cro Cop dismissed the published terms of the contract, as he told Vecernji-list, "I wish it’s that much... that guy must have seen one extra zero. Even boxers do not get that kind of money."

Cro Cop would have no reason to be dishonest by understating how much the UFC is offering him. If anything, for the purposes of negotiations, it's in the best interests of fighters in general for them to overstate--- not understate--- how much money they're being offered, so there's no reason to doubt Cro Cop when he says that Vecernji-list's published contractual terms are not even close to the actual terms.

However, in the same article, Cro Cop did confirm that the UFC has shown interest in him, as he told Vecernji-list, "They are interested in me, but I did not sign anything." Just the fact that the UFC has expressed interest to Cro Cop is significant because it indicates that UFC officials appear to be serious when they say that they will try to sign the best fighters in the world in 2007. Cro Cop is currently the #2 Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings.

This news comes on the heels of BodogFight's announcement that Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, who is the #1 Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings, will be fighting at a BodogFight card in March in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Fedor is currently taking his bookings as a succession of one-fight contracts, with the next one being his December 31st fight in Pride, followed by his March fight with BodogFight. For fights after March, it's a pretty safe bet that every well-funded MMA organization in the world will be seeking Fedor's services, whether it's in the form of more one-fight contracts.or an exclusive long-term deal.

With the top two heavyweights in the world on the verge of being free agents within a few months of one another, the face of the MMA industry could change depending on which organization or organizations are able to sign Fedor and Cro Cop.

Fans of MMA will undoubtedly be hoping that the long-awaited rematch between Fedor and Cro Cop will take place at some point. Fedor defeated Cro Cop by unanimous decision on Pride's Final Conflict card last year in one of the best fights of the year.

taken from mma weekly, december 4th, news


and some say ufc doesnt pay, look at the figures

Mulla

You mean the figures that Mirko himself said are incorrect and came from somebody seeing the contract "over the shoulder of a UFC official on a plane"?

Jasp

Ye it would be great if the UFC were able to sign CroCop but i wont get my hopes up just yet.
As far as UFC paychecks goes, Mirko said they were incorrect so gotta believe him on that one.

nublood

Finally, somebody to de-throne Silvia. lol Seriously though, I would love to see him in the UFC. I think he would totally dominate the HW division. He would be a postcard of what a HW champ should be imo.

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duke09

i thought it was great that the numbers were read ove his shoulder on a plane lol.

he did say though that the person may have added 1 too many zeros. anyway, i just hope they sign the guy, or at least try.

maybe dana wasnt just blowing smoke this time when he said he wanted to sign the best.

if crocop was signed in the ufc, i wonder if any HW that they have could even challenge him? i dont tim would stand a chance, nor would AA or vera. i think he, and his wicked head kick, would dominate.

nublood

Yeah, they ought to remane his left high kick to "deathbringer"!

__________________
Thoughts become Words, Words become Actions, Actions become Character, Character becomes Destiny.

Gooner

Stay in PRIDE Mirko, and fight quality opponents.


Thanks.

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UFC 74
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UFC 87

opsy

i agree, as much as i like the ufc, i honestly think he can take fedor to a decision. that dude needs to get beat

KRONOS

AMEN!!!

T-Bone

that would be cool but .... yup, no hopes getting raised just yet.

comucazi

for some reason i'm speculative of an airline passenger seeing a contract. i hope this happens though

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Comucazi-champion of primates

GSPALLTHEWAY

how about brining in crocop AND fedor.... i for some reason think this is somewhat possible... they both are about to be done with contracts... there is NOWHERE else to go except pride or the UFC for those big names, and with pride trying to unsuccessfully invade the US market it may be a decent idea

stillstanding

Yeah but can the UFC actually compete with Prides payroll and pay them?

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Stillstanding
This is for those who told me that Griffin would never be champ.

Snow Patrol

I think they can... but will they?

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nublood

The UFC generates enough revenue to compete with most anybody's payroll. It's like the previous poster said, would Dana and the Fertitas pay them enough? Who knows.

__________________
Thoughts become Words, Words become Actions, Actions become Character, Character becomes Destiny.

MTKrav911

Again, I'll play devil's advocate here.

What if Crocop and Sylvia were to get it on and Sylvia win?

Then what?

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"I may not break your spirit, but I sure as hell can break your back! Last Stop MeatbalL!" - Thunderlips (Rocky III)

Anderson Silvas dope

that would be rad if the croatian sensation came to the ufc, but i dunno if i trust that airplane bit lol but who would challenge him? unless dana brings half of prides hw division lol id rather see cro cop kill time then move down to lhw WAR chuck liddel

Gooner

The world would implode.


But what do you mean "then what"? Sylvia won, OK. I guess Sylvia would get ranked higher then.

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FF Prediction Contest Wins:
UFC 69
UFC 74
UFC 76
UFC 87

Crashsti

why is that so hard for people to comprehend? Tim can beat anyone, he should have proved his worth when he beat AA twice. still people say he is no good. he beats Monson, he did'nt finish him, but he beat he convincingly enough. can he beat Mirko? lets just say i would'nt be shocked if it did happen. how would the UFC deal with it? they'd just go with the flow like the have been doing.

Gooner

They've had one event in the US.
They'll have 6 next year.

How do you know it's going to be unsuccesful already?

__________________

FF Prediction Contest Wins:
UFC 69
UFC 74
UFC 76
UFC 87