"CroCop" Reaches Deal, Will Compete At 9/10 PRIDE

[tuco]

Ending a quick financial standoff that temporarily turned the MMA world on its head, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic has announced he will compete at the September 10th PRIDE Openweight Grand Prix finals.

Late last week, the former K-1-turned-PRIDE superstar told Croatian newspapers Jutarnji List and Vecernji List that he would not compete in the Openweight Grand Prix Finals on September 10th due to contractual and financial issues with Dream Stage Entertainment. "CroCop" said that he would leave on Monday to begin vacationing in Pula, and with rumors swirling of lucrative offers from American promotions, Filipovic's PRIDE future seemed to be in jeopardy.

Today, Vecernji List has reported that Filipovic and PRIDE promoter Dream Stage Entertainment have reached an agreement, and that Filipovic will indeed compete on September 10th against PRIDE middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva in the Openweight Grand Prix semifinals.

"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'."

Source (http://completevaletudoaccess.blogspot.com/)

[fist]

He is back and he will win the whole thing!

[RedHawk]

Good News!


Now I'm hoping Wandy ends this fight with his pattened "foot stomps while holding the top rope" move.

[heckyl]

hahahaha ^^^ i hope Silva takes it too. i want a Silva x Fedor matchup on NYE :) i know its asking alot, but i can hope.

[Tokyudo]

Also:

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=2463&zoneid=13

[( o Y o )]

good to hear.

[FieldingMellish]

He is back and he will win the whole thing!

He's back and Silva will beat him in their fight so the whole thing was a fiasco for no reason. That said, I'm VERY glad he's back in.

[tuco]

He's back and Silva will beat him in their fight .

hehehe we gonna see about that

[TheDude]

So money comes first, and being the undisputed champion second. It was obviously a stunt to get more money, and without a contract he is entitled to do so.

But as a fan I am glad that he is not holding a belt in any organisation, since seeing him fight would obviously be a rare occasion. One can only image the demands he would make with the bargaining power a belt brings.

So...War Silva. Stomp him out.

[migo]

I don't see how Silva can win this fight. When he fights a good striker, like Hunt, he tries to go for the takedown. Fedor had to work his ass off to get Mirko down and he had to do throws for that, Silva does the clinch and foot trip, which Mirko will have little difficulty defending.

Mirko has a good shot at winning the whole thing, better than anyone else actually, since it's really a toss up on who will win between Nogueira and Barnett.

[agrondr]

Nice to see CC in the finals !

[LethalSassonic]

Cool. BTW, I think September 10th is Cro Cop's Birthday, same night of tourney.

[loreia]

^^Yes it is.

[ChristophVB]

Pride should get an award for nipping it in the bud and making the baby happy to stick around, as well as putting on the best matches on Earth.
As for the utlimate winner, whoever wins it deserves huge respect. I will actually be happy with whichever one of these guys takes it, including the diva Croat.

[ArtOfWar]

Silva has a very realistic chance of winning this fight but what the hell... Mirko did what he had to do and I'm glad the walking out did not happen on the night of the fight.

WAR Mirko...turn Silva's torso into prime ribs for your next meal.

[migo]

It's not like Silva has improved since their last fight, Mirko has improved a lot.

[RedHawk]

well, this fight won't have any special rules. Should look a little more like a MMA fight.

[Grant Ellis]

Silva's jiu-jitsu is much better than when they last fought... but Mirko's is good too.

[ArtOfWar]

It's not like Silva has improved since their last fight, Mirko has improved a lot.

Its difficult for me to be objective about Mirko but I keep wondering when he is actually going to show us those improvements. To the best of my assessment Mirko has gained and lost certain strengths.

Gains:

1. Better ground game: He did do a good job against Barnett, but totally blew it against Hunt.
2. Using some more offensives: low kicks and the likes

Losses:

1. Drive to win?
2. Cardio?
3. Killer instinct?

Assessment: He has got more tools in his arsenal now but he is less of a fighter. There were excuses for all his fights following Fedor though and so we may not have seen the best of him yet :P

[Bangalter]

Gains:

1. Better ground game: He did do a good job against Barnett, but totally blew it against Hunt.
2. Using some more offensives: low kicks and the likes


Please add MUCH improved takedown defence comparing to the first silva vs CC fight.

I mean Coleman couldn't take him down and even Fedor had problems as long as CC was fresh.

[bbbmarc]

branko cut the booze and leave me alone - cro cop says... what else he said you can find
here (http://mma.blog.hr/)

http://img150.imagevenue.com/loc301/th_97716_Picture_001_301lo.jpg (http://img150.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=97716_Picture_001_301lo.jpg)

[Shinbone]

Thank you bbbmarc, good read! By the way, is that you with an orange in your mouth?:P

[bbbmarc]

nope, i'm much more hotter than her, plus i'm a man
;)

[Shinbone]

nope, i'm much more hotter than her, plus i'm a man
;)

Okay, jus kidding mate. I didn't saw it was a woman, the girl on the picture looks more like a boy. :)