The former PrideFC 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix champion Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic defeated Mostapha Al-Turk via TKO (strikes) in the first round at UFC 99. Immediately after the fight, Cro Cop announced that he signed a 3-fight deal with DREAM– the Japanese promotion. UFC President Dana White was furious with the breaking news because he had already verbally agreed with Cro Cop to a 3-fight deal immediately after his match against Al-Turk. White had plans to put Cro Cop up against Cain Velasquez in the near future, but it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen any time soon. Cro Cop skipped the UFC 99 post-fight press conference and was unavailable to discuss his recent deal with DREAM.
Snip from Dana White:
“Isn’t that a dirty [expletive] thing to do? 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…. He didn’t keep his word. He talked about honor and all this other [expletive] and he [expletived] me. He fed me this bull [expletive] 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 [expletive] fighter I offered him, because I needed him to fight Cain. He didn’t just poke Al-Turk; he poked me, too.”
