Crocop signs with DREAM, Dana slightly pissed about it

[SinCitysmallGUY]

Remember that verbal agreement Dana White made with Mirko Crocop? Well, it looks like it was worth the paper it was written on if you know what I mean. Just hours after defeating Mostafa Al-Turk in semi-impressive fashion (as impressive as beating a can with an eye poke can be, and I mean that in a strangely sincere way), Mirko told Dana White that he had signed a three fight deal with DREAM. Dana, who had agreed to a one fight deal as a lead in for a two fight follow up, was less than impressed:

“Isn’t that a dirty fucking thing to do?” White asked rhetorically after being queried about Filipovic’s deal with DREAM. “He fucked 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 fucked me.”

“He didn’t keep his word,” White said, who said he’d had a two-hour talk with Filipovic on the day “Cro Cop” texted and asked to be able to return. “He talked about honor and all this other shit and he fucked me.

“He fed me this bull shit about wanting to take a run for the title, and what I think he did was, he went out and did this. He turned down every other fucking fighter I offered him, because I needed him to fight Cain. He didn’t just poke Al-Turk; he poked me, too.”

The funny thing about this is that Dana just seems to keep getting fucked over by this strange nebulous group of PRIDE-related assholes. 364 days of the year, he keeps his poker face on and refuses to cut anyone any slack. But one day a year his inner PRIDE mark re-appears and he ends up cutting a deal that results in him getting fucked over. And people wonder why he’s not willing to co-promote or bend any rules. Because every time he does, he ends up like Charlie Brown trying to kick that damn football.

As for Mirko, I have no idea what he’s doing and at this point I am very close to not caring. Betraying the UFC doesn’t bother me all that much … Dana has done enough dickish things that it’s kinda refreshing to see him get clowned. But I’m just sick and tired of waiting for Mirko to get back into some kind of title picture that matters. DREAM’s heavyweight division isn’t a joke, but the way it’s booked is. With the UFC we were set to see Crocop vs Nog and Couture. With DREAM, who fucking knows? He could be fighting a dude dressed as a giant chili pepper. So that’s why I’m not too happy about this bullshit.

[gmflex]

ouch...

[SinCitysmallGUY]

Zach Arnold can be relied on for the savvy but contrarian take:

Give credit to Ken Imai — he took his client, who had little or no leverage in the MMA marketplace, and Team Mirko managed to work over Dana White beautifully. He got his one fight against a relatively ’safe’ opponent and now will cash in with a new deal with DREAM.

No, Dana, Mirko didn’t screw you over. Ken Imai didn’t screw you over. They played you like a fiddle, but they didn’t screw you over. You gave them an opening, they took advantage of it like anyone would in this cutthroat business, and they turned it into something bigger and better.
...

As for Mirko saying one thing and doing another to Dana’s face… well, take a look at Mirko’s past history in the fight business and how he handled his deal with power agent Miro Mijatovic before joining Ken Imai and Sakakibara in PRIDE. No surprises there. Dana made a one-fight deal with the devil and the devil acted like the devil does.

Our own Michael Rome responds in the comments:

A lawsuit is probably coming, with claims for breach of contract, fraud, violation of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, detrimental reliance, and more.

We’d need to know the conversation to see if there was an oral contract, there may have been. And whether U.S. courts have jurisdiction is a close question, but the answer is probably yes. They can also sue abroad. If they do, Mirko will spend more money defending this than he "played" Dana for.

Commenter Chuck has another view:

I’m sure if this happened to Scott Coker, Monte Cox, Don King, Lou Dibella, Bob Arum, etc. no one would make this out to be a big deal. You know why? Because this shit happens ALL THE TIME!!!! Hell, I remember when KJ Noons left EXC suddenly, most people thought it was a great idea that he left the way he did. Very little difference than what happened here. Do you know how many small time promoters (of any combat sport, including pro wrestling) get burned by prospects leaving them when a bigger promoter comes around with more money? It happens all the time. Now people suddenly care when it happens to Dana White? Please!!! How hypocritical can you get?

Bloody Elbow #1 fan Alan Conceicaoo adds:

I do have to say one additional thing after waking up. Its pretty obvious DREAM wants to put on Cro-Cop/Fedor II. Its been talked about since mid 2008, but timing never came together for it. If Cro-Cop does fight Fedor, it puts some holes in the "he doesn’t want to fight legit guys" argument real quick. Of course, he won’t have earned it and will have no chance of winning, but that’s minor compared to the money and interest it can generate for them. Besides, everyone here would still watch.

Personally, I think its just the way life goes at every level from the biggest to the smallest. Dana needed/wanted Cro Cop to beef up a troubled German card. Cro Cop wanted a pay day and wanted to trigger a little bidding war for his services. Everybody got what they needed out of the deal and Cro Cop gets to ask Dana, "How taste my pee pee?"

[Petrucci]

jesus, you guys are getting brainwashed by Dana White... im really worried about this. You are putting him before the fighters itself and even before the UFC...

Sadly, i dont see a bright future for the MMA right now... a lot of money, more organizations... but its not getting better imho...

He is the president of the organization and talk in a press conference like the second coming of God, all tough and stuff... He is like the new Don King, without the funny hair, wich makes him worse

[coltrane]

I think Dana White is a bad rep for Zuffa.  The guy can't speak without the trash mouth.  Everything is fuck this, fuck that..  looks awful imo.

[SinCitysmallGUY]

According to a translation posted on the Sherdog forums, this Croation news account has Cro Cop denying that he signed with DREAM:

ZAGREB - The same Saturday night in which Mirko Filipović in only three minutes TKOed Britain Mostapha Al Turk, President of American Organization UFC Dana White without any argument accused the Croatian master of the ultimat fighting for the fraud and hypocrisy.

Ten days ago Dana White and Cro Cop have a phone made arrangements for the duel on the UFC 99 tournament in Cologne Lanxess Arena, leaving open the possibility that cooperation prolongs for the two further tournaments. However, the head of the UFC on Saturday felt fooled because he thought that the Croatian gladiator signed a new contract with the Japanese Dream.

...

Before we accuse Crocop for hypocrisy, let us see what lays below Dana White's empty phrase of honor. UFC leader is angry because Mirko, just as Fedor Emilianenko, the best MMA fighter in the world, did not agree to perform only twice in the next 12 months.

However, it is not true that Cro Cop signed with Dream. We have learned that Mirko Crocop still did not sign neither with Dream nor with UFC, and that he is ready to discuss any offer. Moreover, Mirko expected after the victory in Cologne immediate talks with Dana White about the new contract and is surprised by the accusations of UFC's president.


"I don’t know why White listened to the roumors instead of talking to me. I hoped that we will talk about a continuing of our collaboration, because the only obstacle was the long period between two fights that has been offered to me. I don’t want to sit at home so long and waiting that someone calls me for a figh. However, I am grateful to Dana White for an opportunity to fight in Cologne and despite his harsh words, I don’t see the reason that we don’t prolong the contract – explained Mirko after returning from Germany.

White gave Crocop the opportunity to fight in Cologne to use his charisma of the most popular European fighter and suggested two more bouts, under the condition that he doesn’t fight for other promotions. Because Dream offered him also three-fights contract, but in the next 6 months, why shouldn’t Mirko take some time to consider what is better to him?

Hard to parse this all out. I certainly wouldn't consider it out of the question for Dana White to have flown off the handle without confirming with Cro Cop first. I certainly wouldn't consider it out of the question for the Japanese media to have gotten the story wrong -- or more likely for the DREAM promoters to feed them misinformation. And I wouldn't put it past Cro Cop and his management to have pulled a fast one on both Dana and DREAM -- they've got a track record of duping promoters.

No matter what the truth is, Fightlinker points out it seems like the old gang (no pun intended, he he) from PRIDE has Dana's number:

The funny thing about this is that Dana just seems to keep getting fucked over by this strange nebulous group of PRIDE-related assholes. 364 days of the year, he keeps his poker face on and refuses to cut anyone any slack. But one day a year his inner PRIDE mark re-appears and he ends up cutting a deal that results in him getting fucked over. And people wonder why he’s not willing to co-promote or bend any rules. Because every time he does, he ends up like Charlie Brown trying to kick that damn football.

[SinCitysmallGUY]

*UPDATE* USA Today confirmed via email with DREAM’s US rep Mike Kogan that Crocop has in fact signed with the Japanese promotion. That sounds pretty definite … unless Kogan continues Japan’s fine tradition of hiring fucking morons to run things stateside. I’m going to try and wait until tomorrow before I make any more Crocop updates just so we can see what’s up when the dust settles.

[CARTEL]

Good move by Cro Cop.

Dana wouldn't have thought twice about "screwing" him over if it was the other way around.

[LatsMcGee]

I don't blame Mirko one bit.

[gmflex]

That's why Fedor doesn't want to do anything with Dana White..

[SinCitysmallGUY]

A little update on the Mirko Crocop signing situation from Josh Gross:

According to several sources I spoke with, Mirko Filipovic is close to finalizing a three-fight deal with Real Entertainment, the production company that runs Dream events for FEG. We can get deep into the weeds with this stuff, but the bottom line is the Croatian is more valuable to Japanese promoters than he is to anyone else. Cro Cop’s agent, Ken Imai, has longstanding ties to the old Pride executives who populate Real Entertainment, and all signs point toward Filipovic ending his career in front of the large, quiet crowds in Saitama, Japan.

So does the fact that the deal isn’t finalized change your opinion of the situation? The Nokaut forum (a great place for insider info on what Crocop is up to as it’s full of Croatians and several guys from Mirko’s camp) is in the middle of an Iran-like uprising as people shit all over Mirko for picking easy fights and running back to Japan. In his defense, former Mirko cornerman Fortunal has stated the issues are a lack of a guaranteed title shot in the first contract even if Mirko wins all his fights, and the frequency of fights the UFC is willing to commit to.