“Cro Cop” Withdraws From DREAM 4 Grappling Match Against Gracie
Posted by Kris Karkoski on Jun 9, 2008 at 12:00 pm ET41 Comments
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has withdrawn from a scheduled grappling match against Ralek Gracie at DREAM 4 due to undisclosed injuries.
A former PRIDE and UFC fighter, “Cro Cop” was to face Gracie in a two round submission bout at the June 15th event in Japan.
Despite withdrawing from the bout due to injuries, which are rumored to be minor, Filipovic is still expected to face kickboxer Jerome LeBanner at DREAM 5 on July 21st.
DREAM 5 also includes the finals of the first-ever DREAM lightweight grand prix, a welterweight title bout between Nick Diaz and Hayato Sakurai, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto versus Joseph Benavidez, and several middleweight tournament bouts.
Looks like it was filler only with the fight next month still on so no big deal.
I think that would have been pretty interesting to see Cro Cop in a grappling match but this fight with lebanner someone is going to get there head kicked off
Its gonna take a while for Cro cop to regain that scary presence he once had ….those 2 losses in the UFC hurt his career pretty bad.
Hes still a draw but its really too bad …. i was most excited to see him come from Pride…
What a disappointment…
I agree JohnBlaze, it would have been interesting to see. The fact that he even consisdered doing it especially against one of the Gracies, leads me to believe he obviously must be working on his submission game.
Cro-Cop does better in a ring than a Cage I think. He’s also way underweight for a heavyweight. He needs to drop to 205 and he’d be a really dominant force once he got used to being that light.
On another note… Nick Diaz… please for the love of God LOSE… I can’t stand your taunting & horrific ‘outside the cage’ demeanor. He’s such an a$$hole yet everytime I see him and his stupid brother fight they end up winning. Argh!!!
I’m just glad there is now proof he’s just a drugged out punk. His win over Robbie Lawler really upset me. I’d love to see that rematch.
BREAKING NEWS:
I just read on Fightline.com that the UFC has signed the #1 P4P Boxer in the world, Floyd Money Mayweather AKA Pretty Boy to a figting contract. Not only am I a big fan of MMA, I am also a big fan of Boxing and I read on Maxboxing.com last Friday, Mayweather just recently officially retired from boxing on last Friday. If the reports of Mayweather signing with UFC are true, It makes since now, why Dana White says he has some news that would rock the MMA World! THIS IS HUGE!!!
I agree JAI… but you watch… everyone will treat Mayweather just like they do Kimbo. He’ll get called names…laughed at…called a joke…etc…etc… But what do you think Dana White will do? Anyone? Anyone at all know? Cause I do!
He will give him easy fights to build up his record. Wow… Dana White & Gary Shaw may be more alike than we think? After the Brock Lesnar incident he won’t make that mistake again.
is this getting a little frustrating for any other cro cop fans?
if the guy is injured, he’s injured. i don’t have a problem with him pulling out of a fight if he needs time to heal. but with the promises and excuses and numerous opponent changes, i am starting to doubt Mirko a little and dream alot.
are they doing all this last-minute sub’ing with other fight(er)s?
Oh and I meant to ask if anyone has heard what the ‘minor’ injuries of CroCop actually were? I’d hate to think he got out of the fight because of something lame. I really want to like the guy…but he couldn’t even beat Kongo.
Gonzaga is tough so I’ll let him slide on that one… but Kongo? A fighter of his caliber should have taken him out in the first round. He seemed uncomfortable and almost…. scared. I hope he makes a huge comeback though.
I agree DannyBoy. I’ve been saying that all along about Dana and how he took advantage of Brock bringing all of his WWE fans to the UFC and MMA. Gary Shaw is doing the exact samething with Kimbo as Dana did with Brock…takeing advantage of all of Kimbo’s Internet Fans and bring them to Elite and MMA. The difference is Shaw is bringing Kimbo along slowly the way you would in boxing and Dana through Brock in with a former UFC HW Champ on his first go around. If he gets Mayweather, it will probably put him in with some stand up guys at first to get him use to it all before putting him in with a BJJ or a Wrestling guy.
Mayweather-vs-Melvin Guilard at 155 would be a nice match up. The thing is, Mayweather would be better fit for the 145 division. That means they would have to put him in the WEC. Mayweather-vs-Pulver. Pulver is an ex-boxer and loves to stand and trade.
hmmm now that i think about it how interesting would it be if the cro cop goes right away for the taken down on lebanner and that fight ends up taking place entirely on the ground
hmmm this is an interesting development… Vince McMahon and the WWE are holding a press conference on Thrusday in NYC. Dana is holding a press conference on thrusday. Dana says “It’s an indicator of where this business is going over the next five years.” With EileteXC’s show practicly being a WWE type of show and with the addition of Lesner to UFC and Bobby Lashly now join MMA what about a UFC deal with WWE. Its just a thought I would be against it but hey you never know with either Dana or Vince.
i agree with JAI, Mayweather fights at 147 so he would be best suited to the WEC. But can u see Dana passing up and opportunity like that. He’l put him straight in a live PPV against a good standup fighter. This will be good for the UFC and the Sport
I dont know much about Mayweather, aside from him being a great boxer… If he hasnt been training MMA for at least a couple years, he will get hurt.
Its kinds strange to see a bunch of MMA fans supporting a boxer’s move into MMA.
As far as Mayweather fighting at 147, wont he bulk up some as he works more on leg strenght and MMA muscles as opposed to focusing only on boxing?
Mayweather v. Faber?
Why the hell does everybody think mayweather coming to mma would be a good idea. This is like the beginning of mma when masters of only 1 discipline would fight to see which one is better i.e the first ufc’s. This is just ridiculous to start bringing in these guys that are pure one dimensional fighters. Bringing floyd into mma would regress the state of mixed martial arts. And mayweather vs faber is the most ridiculous fight that could be put together, might as well feed kimbo to fedor.
Atleast Brock has some cedentials. And he wasn’t spoon fed fighters like kimbo. Only thing I dislike about Brock is that he’s making so much money. He should have had to earn it. But I can’t blame him for getting the money he got. Blame Dana.
If this Floyd business is true, then he must be getting some serious money. Maybe Dana’s bring in the best boxer in the world to probe mma is superior to boxing.
Last night there was a report that Dana had shot the Mayweather story down via instant message.
On Cro Cop I don’t dislike him I just think this match was supposed to be extra material for the card. Like the Royler/Rickson demo in Pride. I know he has skills I mean that what Werdum was for right.
If Mayweather is spoonfed by UFC I will blast him and Dana, too fair is fair. But there is a difference between spoonfed and predetermined outcome and that is what the last Kimbo fight looked like.He beat Tank straight up. He beat ray Mercer too and the arguements about those fights have nothing to do with him. The last fight is what is so troubling.
Fighting tank Abbott and Mercer is being spoonfed imo. 2 guys who have no skill beside punching.
cro-cop sucks ass!…. from what ive seen of him hes 2nd rate, from wat people tell me of him hes 1st class, i’ll go on what ive seen an i think he sucks big time.
Cro Cop still has something to prove after his bad run in the UFC. He needs tobe fighting MMA fights, not random wrestling matches.
It was said that he wants to return to the UFC… I think he needs some cage and elbows work.
There is no rule that everyfight has to be a 3 round ordeal.Do I think Mercer was the best prepared he could be…No I do not But I do believe he could have had a chance at Kimbo. The same goes for Abbott. They were aging names to build his record on. Hes not ready for Fedor yet. The Thompson fight is the one I have the problem with.
Dietrich,
You maybe on to something. I Just read on MMARATED.com that Dana says the Mayweather story is not true!
I originally made the post after reading on Fightline.com that Mayweather had signed the deal with UFC.
JAI,
Yeah White basically laughed his as off when he heard the rumors about mayweather signing for 200 million. MMARated.com is trusted but ignore Fightline.com and MediaTakeout.com (which is generally a media site but posts ridiculous MMA news occasionally that haven’t been true).
It’s gonna be big, stay tuned. Only a couple more days.
Just like Kimbo will never fight Tyson. Mayweather will never fight in the UFC.
I am excited but feel the announcement is getting too much attention and that it could be a huge disappoint for those that are expecting something crazy.
After Iron Ring I hold a little hope that Shonie Carter got ahold of Mayweather.
Good. That grappling match was a dumb idea. I love the technical side of grappling but it would slow the pace of a “strictly” MMA event. Just dumb dumb dumb. I hope Diaz pulls off the win. I can’t wait for him to make his way back to the UFC. It would be pretty cool to have the Diaz and Hughes brothers all on the same fight card. It’s more likely Kimbo Slice gets a sex change than that happening.
The big announcement is that there will now be midgets fighting. That’s right….SMALL people. Dwarfs however, will have a seperate divison. If that is not the announcement it must have to do with Vince MacMahon. There is no way Mr. MacMahon and Shane O’Mac stand by while The Donald gets in on the money being made in MMA. Seriously, I know the secret. A messenger pigeon brought it to me at work today then spontaneously combusted into lttle Kalib Starnes. I am afraid if I share the secret the same will happen to me and Kalib is the last guy I want to be when this announcement is made.
i’m hoping they give rogan and that douchebag Goldberg the boot and install a new announce team…how about Jesse the Body Ventura and Gorilla Monsoon >=]
Is Monsoon still alive? I like Rogan and Goldberg but if they had to be replaced I would prefer Umaga and the Great Kahli…..along with a midget.
Johnboy
You can’t say that mate, I thought you were like a Yorkshire version of me as I will usually agree with and back up your views but no way does Cro Cop suck ass!!!
Cro Cop’s the f*cking boy, sure those 2 ufc loses look bad but before that this guys was a total monster, go on youtube and watch some of his fights
From a sherdog post
group of investors led by Dana White have agreed in principle to purchase the UFC from Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta for an undisclosed amount. Included in this investment group is WWE’s Vince McMahon who will now own a minority stake in the company. They also have plans on taking the company public by years end.
At the press conference also expect Dana to announce that with the help of McMahon, who has extensive connections in the New York State Athletic Commission, they were able to get the UFC sanctioned in New York, and plan on having a show sometime in the winter at Madison Square Garden. That is all I have right now.
Not really sure if it’s a good thing to have Vince involved with UFC though. He’s so controlling. He may want to get to involved instead of letting Dana run it himself. Dietrich may be on to something here, because Dana has made it known that he has a big anouncement on Thursday, and so has the WWE. I guess we will see soon enough. I just hope i’m not getting my hopes up for nothing and then the annoucement turns out to be lame.
Jai,
MIDGETS! That is the f-n announcement. Midgets and Dwarfs are coming to MMA. I am sorry if that is not the news you were expecting but that’s it.
cnbc 1240 pm
Good to see my Madison Square Garden guess may be true.
To answer Dannyboy’s question ….
I read on one website that Mirko CroCop decided to withdraw from his grappling match against Ralek Gracie on the advice of his doctor. The report indicated that he suffered a minor ligament injury to his arm during training. At this time, he still intends to compete against Jerome LeBanner in an MMA match at DREAM.5. Furthermore, it does not appear that CroCop has any intention to drop to 205. He has been gradually putting on weight in an effort to compete with the heavier fighters in this weight class.
And KOuch, you were right to suspect the passing of Gorilla Monsoon. He died a few years ago.
jpm
im just going on what i have seen, i never watched pride so haven’t see him at his best, i think i dislike him more then him sucking, i mean wen he first came to the ufc all u guys on here were excited about him saying hes guna walk through the heavyweights so i was excited to see him, all these kicks and punches ive heared about then wen he did fight he looked bad not like the fighter ive been told about. hope he can come back an prove me wrong but from what ive seen i dont think so.
ive seen him on youtube he looks badass but that was then, maybe it has summat to do with the cage because ive noticed all his fights were in a ring!
Whoa, come to read about Cro Cop and get speculations galor. HA! Maywether would not last an MMA match, but funny thought, and if Dana ever did go that way, its time to stop watching because that will mean the UFC is as fake as WWE. And I love reading the articles about Brock Lenser as they refer to him “the UFC superstar” really? come on, get beat in under 2 min of your first match and your a UFC superstar? seriously?
Enough already Dana, things are getting out of hand!
pecker,
I completely agree with your comments on Lesnar. In my opinion Dana and the UFC are doing the same thing with Lesnar as the EliteXC is with Kimbo.