In a move that frustrated UFC President Dana White, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic announced that his fight at UFC 99 will be a one-and-out deal.
The word from Cologne, Germany is that Cro Cop informed White that he has signed a three-fight deal with the DREAM organization. Cro Cop defeated Mostapha al Turk via first round TKO on Saturday’s UFC card.
“Isn’t that a dirty [expletive] thing to do?” asked White, as noted in a Yahoo Sports story. “He f*cked 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 f*cked me.”
Though Cro Cop had only formally agreed to the one fight in Germany, the Croatian fighter spoke of UFC main-event aspirations in a media call this week (and had done so in his phone negotiations with White). White insists that while Cro Cop did turn down a more challenging fight with heavyweight standout Cain Velasquez, he had expressed a desire to fight al Turk as preparation for another run at the top of UFC’s Heavyweight division.
Said White, “He fed me this bullsh*t 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 f*cking fighter I offered him, because I needed him to fight Cain. He didn’t just poke Al-Turk; he poked me, too.”
Earlier in the week, UFC President Dana White commented on the unique nature of the deal, noting that he had “never” arranged a deal in gentleman’s fashion over the phone. The experience with Cro Cop likely means White will never make such a deal again.
