Prides Mirko Cro Cop coming to the UFC
Reigning PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix champion Mirko Filipovic has apparently decided to bolster the ranks of the UFC heavyweight division, a source inside the Croatian's camp informed Sherdog.com Wednesday. Rumors have buzzed of Filipovic's departure from PRIDE since his official Web site reported in recent days that he would not fight on the Japanese promoter's year-end card.
Filipovic, the No. 2 heavyweight in the world behind PRIDE champion Fedor Emelianenko, would make an immediate impact on a division that has long been considered among the weakest in the UFC. Terms are not known, but it's expected Fillipovic, 32, could sign one of the most expensive multi-fight deals in UFC history. A former K-1 star, "Cro Cop" moved from kickboxing to mixed martial arts in 2001, and has since amassed in impressive 21-4-2 record. His biggest accomplishment in MMA occurred just last September, when the Fighter of the Year candidate stopped Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett on the same night to capture PRIDE's Grand Prix crown. It was believed tournament victory would secure Filipovic a second crack at Emelianenko, whom the Croatian lost to by decision in epic August 2005 clash.
Filipovic's four losses have come against Emelianenko, former K-1 World Grand Prix champion Mark Hunt, a shocking knockout against former UFC heavyweight champion Kevin Randleman and by submission in a classic battle against former PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. "Cro Cop" is renowned for his striking skills, which features a devastating left high kick that is responsible for highlight-reel victories against the likes of Silva, Igor Vovchanchyn and Aleksander Emelianenko.
The super-striker would immediately vault to the top of the contender list for Tim Sylvia's UFC heavyweight belt, should the "Maine-iac," who is currently renegotiating his contract with the Las Vegas-based promoter, remain with the organization. There has been some discussion inside the UFC that "Cro Cop," who was not under contract to PRIDE, would make his cage-fighting debut versus Jake O'Brien, a young, undefeated fighter whose strength is on the mat.
Source: Sherdog
Pride: Mirko & Fedor off the New Years Eve Fight card
It was confirmed today that Mirko won't be fighting at PRIDE's NYE event.
"I still can't kick like I want to. It's the best that we give more time to this injury to heal. I want to be in perfect shape for my next fights."
But there's one far more important question lately - in which promotion will Mirko fight in the future? The big decision was made and the official statement will follow soon.
Yesterday during evening training Fedor has broken a toe and now hardly can take part on New Year's display.
Talk about Cro Cop & Fedor here.
Fedor vs. Monson fight in March 2007
“It’s a done deal. It looks like I will be fighting Fedor March 3rd in Russia” says Jeff Monson on the phone with InsideFighting early this week.
And with those words from Jeff Monson, the rumored fight with number one ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, is officially not just a rumor anymore.
While InsideFighting has not yet been able to get an official word from Emelianenko, and while it is impossible to guarantee that even the best laid plans will ultimately go through in any case, Monson is the first party involved in this situation to go on the record and confirm his intention to participate in a Bodog Fight super fight with Emelianenko in March, and his statement goes a long way towards providing a degree of certainty that the fight will indeed happen.
While Emelianenko is set to participate on Pride’s Shockwave New Year’s Eve card in Japan, InsideFighting does not know the details of his contract beyond that. But Monson says that his status with the UFC, where just last month he fought for the heavyweight title against Tim Sylvia and where he had fights remaining on his contract, is no longer such that it would prevent him from fighting for Bodog Fight against Emelianenko.
“My manager approached Bodog about fighting Fedor. We asked the UFC if we could get out of our contract because there was an opportunity to do this. Now we are out of it” he says.
But Monson denies that his departure from the UFC is an acrimonious one, and seems optimistic about returning to challenge for championship gold with the organization again.
“The UFC can’t lose. If I win they can say ‘here’s this guy who lost to Tim Sylvia, our champion, and he just beat the number one guy in the world’.
“I mean, what were they going to do with me now? Have me fight a few more guys and work towards another title shot? This is a good opportunity for me, and if I win, it would be a quick way back to another title shot in the UFC” says Monson.
Founded by billionaire Calvin Ayre, Bodog Entertainment Group is the force behind Bodog Fight, and is presumably a well-funded one. But Monson says that money wasn’t the biggest factor in his seeking out the fight with Emelianenko.
“They offered a pretty good sum, but it’s mostly about the opportunity to fight Fedor. It’s a good opportunity for me” Monson says.
But after going 5 championship rounds before losing a decision to Tim Sylvia not a full month ago on November 18th at UFC 65, does Monson feel healthy enough to begin training again, and when will that training begin for the fight in March?
“I’m a little banged up. I’ll begin training in two weeks. I’ll get into an actual training camp after New Year’s” he says.
Source: InsideFighting.com (via MMA Universe)
PRIDE Bushido Scrapped, Grand Prix Tourney Changes
As a result, all Pride shows from this point forward will feature fights in all four of Pride's weight classes (160 pounds, 183 pounds, 205 pounds, and heavyweight). Sakakibara also announced that the Pride Grand Prix for any given weight class will only be held once every four years, much like the Olympics. Since Pride has four weight classes, this means that there will be one new Grand Prix tournament each year. While Sakakibara did not mention which one of Pride's four weight classes will have a Grand Prix in 2007, it's almost certain that it's not going to be 183 pounds and it's not going to be heavyweight (or "open weight"), since Pride just held Grand Prix tournaments for both of those weight classes in 2006. That would leave the 205-pound division and the 160-pound division as the two remaining possibilities for a Grand Prix in 2007. Previously, Pride held Grand Prix tournaments for the 160-pound division in 2005, and for the 205-pound division in both 2003 and 2005. With each of Pride's weight classes only having a Grand Prix tournament once every four years, Sakakibara also stated that the four Pride title belts (currently held by Fedor Emelianenko, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson, and Takanori Gomi) will be defended much more often. Specifically, Sakakibara said there will be at least one title fight on every Pride show from now on. One thing that Sakakibara did not announce was a Japanese TV deal for the New Year's Eve Pride Shockwave show. The originally hyped announcement date of November 10th has come and gone with no announcement being made. Further, all of the major Japanese TV networks have released their schedules for the big night on NYE, with no Pride broadcast in sight. Fuji TV terminated its broadcasting agreement with Pride earlier this year due to several company scandals. The cancellation came despite the fact that on December 31st of last year, Pride drew its highest New Year's Eve ratings ever and won the head-to-head New Year's Eve ratings battle with K-1 for the first time, in what would turn out to be the final Fuji TV airing of the Pride New Year's Eve show. This year's installment of the New Year's Eve show, along with future Pride shows, will still be available in Japan on the satellite-based pay-per-view channel SkyPerfecTV, and in the United States on various cable and satellite pay-per-view outlets. Despite the lack of a TV deal in Japan, or perhaps in part because of it, Pride is aggressively pursuing its plans for expansion, and Sakakibara stated that there will be up to twelve Pride events in 2007, with up to six of those events being held in the United States. 
In a recent issue of Gong Magazine, Dream Stage Entertainment CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara announced several changes that Pride will undergo in the near future, including the fact that the Bushido series of events has been discontinued in Japan and will be combined with the regular Pride shows in the future.
Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva could still be on. UFC vs Pride
Pride's Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva came out during Pride 32 and called out UFC's Chuck Liddell. Wanderlei came out saying that he will be fighting in Pride in February, in Las Vegas. That wasn't the end of Wanderlei's message.
Wanderlei then added that he wants Chuck Liddell to be his opponent. Wanderlei said that he is tired of all of Chuck's talk. So what are the chances that it will come off?
Here are my thoughts on this matter? Simple…
Most likely this is more posturing from Pride's side than actual substance, although I am certain Wanderlei really wants to fight Chuck. It's basically bait, and they are hoping the UFC will send Liddell to Pride, but don’t look for this to happen.
Final comment
Pride and UFC execs are far from seeing eye to eye, and I don’t expect it to happen by February 2007.
PRIDE New Year’s Eve Main Event, More Fighters Set
PrideOfficial.com, the official Japanese website of PRIDE Fighting Championships has announced the main event for the company's upcoming show on New Year's Eve, traditionally the biggest annual event for PRIDE.
It will be the undisputed Heavyweight champion of PRIDE, Fedor Emelianenko, taking on former K-1 Grand Prix champion - Mark Hunt.
Fighters confirmed for the show, but yet to have matches announced (updated list):
-Mirko CroCop
-Vanderlei Silva
-Josh Barnett
-Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
-Mauricio "Shogun" Rua
-Dan Henderson
-Takanori Gomi
-Hidehiko Yoshida
-Kazuyuki Fujita
-Joachim Hansen
-Denis Kang
-Ricardo Arona
-Gilbert Melendez
-Hayato Sakurai
-Tatsuya Kawajiri
-Kazuo Misaki
-Kazuhiro Nakamura
-Akihiro Gono
-Mitsuhiro Ishida
-Sanae Kikuta
-Ikuhisa Minowa
-Shinya Aoki
Pride Shockwave 2006 Updated Fight Card
Fedor Emelianenko vs Mark Hunt
Hidehiko Yoshida vs Kazuyuki Fujita
Takanori Gomi vs Kazuhiro Nakamura
Kazuo Misaki vs Akihiro Gono
Sanae Kikuta vs Shinya Aoki
Mitsuhiro Ishida vs Tatsuya Kawajiri
Ikuhisa Minowa vs Hayato "Mach" Sakurai
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs Josh Barnett
Wanderlei Silva vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs Dan Henderson
Ricardo Arona vs Gilbert Melendez
Denis Kang vs Joachim Hansen
Talk about Shockware 2006 here.
Fighters confirmed for Pride Shockwave 2006
Mark Hunt
Mirco 'Crocop' Filipivic
Josh Barnett
Wanderlei Silva
Antonio "Minotauro" Rodrigo Nogueira
Hidehiko Yoshida
Kazuyuki Fujita
Takanori Gomi
Maurcio 'Shogun' Rua
Dan Henderson
Classic K-1 Sapp vs. Crocop Broken Cheek Bone Video
Broken Cheek Bone - video powered by Metacafe
Despite Surgery, Cro Cop still wants to kick ass for the New Year
Pride 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix winner Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has successfully undergone surgery to remove a small piece of bone in his left foot. According to the Croatian news site "Justranji," Mirko will return home from Switzerland on Monday and is expected to rehabilitate his foot for two weeks before he resumes training.
Cro Cop, who is currently the #2 Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings, revealed that he initially suffered his injury prior to his fight against Mark Hunt at the Pride Shockwave event in December 2005.
The Grand Prix Champion commented that the surgery went smoothly and stated that his foot will not be completely healed until December. Despite the recovery time, Cro Cop still wishes to be a participant in Pride’s annual New Year’s Eve event.
If Mirko is able to fight at Shockwave, it's likely that his opponent on that night would be someone other than Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko, who is the #1 Heavyweight in the MMAWeekly Rankings.
Mirko expects his foot to be fully healed in time for a potential showdown with Fedor Emelianenko in February, which means that the fight could take place on Pride’s next American show in Las Vegas, Nevada on February 24th.
If that is the case, it will be the first time that a Pride championship will have been defended on U.S. soil with the modified rules under the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
