There have been some contradicting reports as to where and who Mirko Cro Cop will be fighting next. What else is new, right?  Mirko himself released a statement that he would be fighting at UFC 99 in Germany against Mostapha Al-Turk.  The problem was that Todd Duffee was slated to face Al-Turk at UFC 99, which is now mysteriously missing. Todd Duffee even appeared on Friday's InsideMMA episode to clear up the situation by stating that he is still training for and fighting Al-Turk at UFC 99 and that, to his knowledge, Mirko was not even signed to the UFC yet.

So what is going on? It looks like Dave Meltzer may have some inside for us:

--We've been flooded with e-mails on this one in the last 24 hours.  The Mirko Cro Cop deal for the 6/13 UFC show is that Cro Cop has not yet signed his contract so the fight isn't being advertised, but everyone is still under the impression Cro Cop is fighting on the show in Cologne, Germany.  

...

They were hopeful it could be signed by tomorrow but there is a holdup that doesn't have to do with Cro Cop/UFC negotiations.

So what could be these holdups that have nothing to do with Cro Cop or the UFC? There are a few theories out there, and they mostly deal with Cro Cop either having a non-exclusive contract (which is unlikely in the UFC) or they could be hitting a contract extension clause from Mirko's DREAM contract, which is also pointed out by FightLinker.

Back when Mirko left the UFC and signed with DREAM, he stated that there was a possible contract extension after his 3 fights are over with DREAM:

On Dream and the contract

My dream has come true, I'll fight in Japan again. I've signed a three fight contract with a possibility of extension. 

It's where I had some memorable moments, where I feel at home. DREAM is a new organization with a good management and huge potential. Japan is a big market and these guys know how to bring something to a high level. I'll do my best to help them on that way.

DREAM may decide to exercise this clause, since they are advertising Mirko on a flyer as a participant for DREAM.10.

Another scenario is that when Mirko signed with the UFC, his manager mentioned that his contract with the UFC was "special" and it was non-exclusive.

this is from Kamipro move(handiphone only news site)

"ordinary contract to UFC is domination contrast.but Mirko’s contract will be special…(He can fight japanese promotion too?)".

Could some misunderstanding have occurred in the process of negotiating Mirko's return to the UFC?  Either way, the delay for Mirko to officially sign with the UFC is impacting the UFC 99 event, fighters, and the potential to advertise one of the biggest European stars for their Germany event, which could use some positive publicity and a big European star after the backlash Germany has given the UFC.

The UFC was hopeful they could get Mirko signed by today, but even this most optimistic scenario would give them less than two weeks to officially promote Cro Cop for their UFC 99 event.

They wanted Cro Cop to sell tickets to people coming in from Croatia, but the longer they wait to announce it, the harder it'll be to get people to travel in.

So it's now official, Mirko seems to have finally signed for UFC 99.

Satoshi Ishii Signs With Sengoku

In other news, Satoshi Ishii, who was previously announced to be signing with the UFC, announced in a press conference today in Tokyo that he will be signing with Sengoku on a multi-fight deal. NightmareOfBattle has the scoop:

A press conference was held in Tokyo today, announcing that 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist in Judo, Satoshi Ishii, has signed with World Victory Road to fight in their SENGOKU event. No debut date was announced but he is expected to debut within the year. This is easily the biggest signing of the year and a HUGE signing for WVR.

Update #1: Ishii has signed for more than one fight. He has signed a provisional contract and on Thursday he will sign the real contract at an open to fans contract signing event in Japan.

This is a pretty big deal for Japanese MMA and specially for Sengoku, considering that DREAM is currently struggling to put on great MMA events on TBS that garner high ratings.  A fighter like Ishii would have given them another star to build that could produce Akiyama and KID like numbers.  It will be interesting to see where Sengoku goes here, as they are becoming a force in Japan.