Cro Cop vs. Junior dos Santos possible for UFC 103

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Shogun Locc

Shogun Locc

Sicc OG
#1
Feb 7, 2006
13,049
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#1
Fast rising UFC heavyweight Junior dos Santos has recently revealed that he expects to face none other than Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic on September 19.

If dos Santos has his dates correct, that would place the bout at UFC 103.

The Brazilian knockout artist made the revelation during a recent interview with the Brazilian website Portal das Lutas.

He had previously announced that he would be facing Justin McCully at UFC 102 but dos Santos explained that the bout was recently scratched.

“I think I’ll fight September 19,” said the Black House fighter. “They took me off the August 29 show. My opponent’s changed. I’ll probably face Cro Cop. If I beat him I’ll be in really good standing. If that’s truly the case, I’m guaranteed on the main card and in the main event of the evening. If I were to fight now it wouldn’t be on the main card.”

It appears as though the private meeting between Cro Cop and Lorenzo Fertitta must have gone well in Croatia.

Filipovic was previously reported to be departing the UFC in favor of the Japanese DREAM promotion, but the recent news from dos Santos makes it appear as if we will be seeing the return of Cro Cop to the octagon sooner rather than later.

Cro Cop made his initial return to the UFC a successful one at UFC 99 as he stopped Mustapha al Turk by TKO in the first round, while dos Santos is 2-0 in the UFC with first round TKO’s over the likes of Fabricio Werdum and Stefan Struve to his credit.
 
BROWN GUERRERO

BROWN GUERRERO

#SFUNITE
#6
Feb 12, 2004
7,488
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Well, I guess Dana feels like a retard(again).


Yes, Junior Dos Santos is set to fight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovoc at UFC 103
by John Morgan and Dann Stupp on Jul 09, 2009 at 10:50 am ET
After conflicting reports and questions about Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's standing with the Japanese-based DREAM organization and the UFC, the Croatian fighter is, in fact, returning to the octagon.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) first reported on Wednesday that Junior Dos Santos (8-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) had been pulled from a UFC 102 bout with Justin McCully, and sources close to the negotiations now tell us he is set to fight fellow heavyweight Filipovic (25-6-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at UFC 103.

The event takes place Sept. 19 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, and airs live on pay-per-view.

It's unknown if the heavyweight clash will serve as the night's main event.

After a nearly two-year-long split from the UFC, Filipovic returned to the organization last month and defeated Mustapha Al Turk at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany. During a media conference call to announce his return and late addition to the UFC 99 card, Filipovic said he considered his first run in the UFC, which included a 1-2 record and losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo, a "black mark" on his career.

Filipovic also said he wanted to make a run at the UFC title with his return to the organization. On the same call, UFC President Dana White announced he had signed Filipovic to a rare one-fight deal – with a verbal agreement that a multi-fight contract would be signed after UFC 99. White said it was the first time in his history with the organization he agreed to such a deal.

However, just hours after the event, White told Yahoo! Sports that Filipovic "[expletived] me" and that the fighter informed him he had signed a three-fight deal with the Japanese-based DREAM organization.

"Isn't that a dirty [expletive] thing to do?" White asked rhetorically after being queried about Filipovic's deal with DREAM. "He [expletived] 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 [expletived] me."

Even as Filipovic told Croatian media outlets that it was a simple misunderstanding and that he hadn't signed with the Japanese promotion, a DREAM official told USA Today the organization had, in fact, secured a deal with Filipovic.

Last week, though, Croatian outlets reported that UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta had flown to the fighter's home and signed Filipovic to a deal that would keep him in the UFC. And on Wednesday, Dos Santos confirmed to GracieMag.com he had been pulled from the UFC 102 card and was slated to fight at UFC 103, possibly against Filipovic in the night's main event.

With his new UFC deal apparently done, Filipovic's current status with DREAM is unknown.

Regardless, Filipovic enters UFC 103 with three wins (and one no-contest) in his past four fights. All three victories came via first-round stoppage, though Filipovic was losing the September 2008 fight with Alistair Overeem before an illegal knee to Filipovic's groin forced a no-contest. There was also some controversy in the win over Al-Turk after the bout's referee didn't see an illegal (and inadvertent) eye poke from Filipovic that forced his opponent to cover up. Filipovic pounced on Al-Turk and forced a first-round TKO stoppage just seconds later.

Prior to the fight, Filipovic said a surgically repaired knee had felt its best in years and that he is again fighting at 100 percent.

He now faces a stern test in Dos Santos, a rising heavyweight contender who followed an upset TKO win over Fabricio Werdum in October with a dominating 54-second knockout of Stefan Struve in February at UFC 95. A win over Filipovic could thrust the Brazilian fighter into immediate title contention.

For the latest on UFC 103, including the latest rumored fight card, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
 
P

PsyDaL

Sicc OG
#7
Apr 25, 2002
2,614
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#7
This will be a good matchup both for Mirko and Dos Santos. Id like to see Mirko get brutally KO and Im sure Dana White is thinking the same thing. If I was Dana White Id pump some money into Dos Santos training and mold him into a killer....
 
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