By now, we have all heard Dana's comments and statement that Mirko has left the UFC and signed with Dream.

Earlier this morning, Miko was asked about it:

Cro Cop returns home:

Q: Can you comment on signing for DREAM?
"No comment, that is my private business relations."

Q: How was the knee?
"Good. Good. He was going

Now another report has come out with Mirko saying this is not the case: http://www.jutarnji.hr/sport/borilacki_sportovi/clanak/art-2009,6,14,,166592.jl

According to this, he has not signed and is surprised by this. He also said (apparently) that Dana had not talked to him about it prior to going public.

I think there is a lot more to this. I am not saying Dana is lying and I am not saying Mirko is lying, but Mirko left immediately and somebody told Dana that Mirko was competing in Dream.

Perhaps a member of Mirko's camp? Maybe they told Dana he verbally agreed to a deal?

If this was an American fighter, I guess I could see a rumor getting around backstage. But who would be in a position to tell Dana this? None of the other fighters know Mirko at all.

This does not sound like Dana simply overreacting. He clearly was under the impression that Mirko had signed a deal. Dana is not stupid, he is not going to go public because a reporter or hanger-on told him something.


He got home and was asked by a reporter about this new deal with Dream. He would not talk about it.


If there was NO truth to it, would he not have simply said it was not true? Think about it, somebody says something that is out of left field, something that has not an ounce of truth to it, would you not at least ask where they heard such a thing?

I am thinking there is some truth to each side. Perhaps no deal is signed, but Mirko verbally agreed to a Dream deal? If that is the case, I can see how word would get out that he had signed with Dream. Again, it would have to have come from somebody credible.

Now Mirko is talking. I can't help but wonder if he woke up today,  saw  it all over the internet, and realized he better say something about this situation. A little damage control perhaps.


Perhaps the funniest/saddest thing about all of this is that we have those that declare Mirko scummiest of all scum and then the crew that declare Dana the great Satan.

Reality is usually somewhere in between. In this situation, I am almost certain that is the case.

Update:

Who Me has posted, in the comments section, that Sergio Non has written the following:

Soon after beating Mostapha al-Turk on Saturday at UFC 99, Filipovic told UFC officials that he has signed a three-fight deal with the Japanese organization Dream, Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole first reported. The news was later confirmed to me in an e-mail from Mike Kogan, who runs the U.S. operation of Dream’s parent company, Fighting and Entertainment Group.

Dave Meltzer wrote this:

My belief is that he hasn't signed with anyone because the whole leverage of doing a one-fight deal is to play the sides against each other.  Of course he's got one side (agent Ken Imai) telling Dream he's with them, particularly because he told them ahead of time in the event he lost.  Now that he won, they can play both sides. 

Ken has a history of being shrewd and brutal. If he has Dream convinced that Mirko is with them, I can see how this kind of mess could come about.