Wild Boys... my thoughts on Cro Cop and Dana White

As a rabid Cleveland sports fan, the recent developments surrounding Mirko "Cro Cop" Fillpovic's reneging of whatever verbal agreement he had with the UFC reeks of poignancy and brings me back to that fateful day when former Cleveland Cavaliers GM Jim Paxson allowed then up and coming power forward Carlos Boozer to void his contract with the verbal promise that he would immediately sign a new one and remain a corner stone of the franchise. Just the second that deal was null and void media outlets began reporting that Boozer had just signed with the Utah Jazz. The deal was in the books and it was Paxson and the Cavaliers fans that had been bamBOOZled. While this was a fateful day for Cavaliers fans, it was also a historical day for the world of professional sports as the idea of a handshake agreement suddenly seemed as legitimate as calling Santa Claus at the North Pole and expecting him to deliver a pirates booty of presents. 

UFC President Dana White's reaction was your garden variety Dana White reaction; a "you used me like a dirty whore" here and a "he fucked me" there to play up to the fans. Always one to play the victim, White went on with a profanity laced tirade questioning Cro Cop's manhood by telling the MMA world "he turned down a fight with everyone else." (Boy, that must make Mostapha al Turk's retina feel much better.) 

All in all, fans should demand an apology from Dana White. I wouldn't hold your collective breathes that one is coming but I can certainly guarantee the Fertitta brothers got one. As dual owners in the worlds largest MMA promotion they deserve one and really should be questioning whether or not they have the right person in charge of their empire. While White has taken this sport to a heralded high level; there certainly is room to grow and evaluations should seriously take place as to whether or not White is the guy to get them to the next level (network deals, more legitamacy to the average fan, mainstream sports media coverage, potential MMA in the Olympics, etc.) Simply put, after the Boozer debacle professional sports organizations should never operate on a verbal or handshake agreement. Fact of the matter is you are dealing with a growing sport that still isn't able to operate legally in the countries most populated city. For every athlete that is a true ambassador of the sport, (Georges St Pierre, Rich Franklin) there is a Lee Murray or War Machine. Oftentimes, professional sports have a hard enough time having players honor the contacts they sign. Doing business on handshake agreements only increase the odds that one (if not both) of the parties are going to come away with proverbial egg on their faces.

The burning question that I have to Dana White is what was it exactly that made you trust Cro Cop to give him the opportunity to step in and fight a one-fight deal in the first place? White said he had "An unbelievable amount of respect" for Cro Cop and went on to elaborate about the general overall trust he had in him. Hmmm... I wonder if Cro Cop felt the same "trust" and respect when Dana White, Joe Rogan and the rest of the UFC staff looped the highlights of him getting kicked in the head by Gabe Gonzaga countless times and all but clamoring over Gonzaga as the next big thing? It's not earth shattering news that Cro Cop is an awfully prideful guy. That loss clearly had a major physiological effect on him as he has not been the same fighter since. I'm still curious where this unparalleled level of trust came from. It's not like they have a storied work history together. Cro Cop was a prizefighter for your organization which profited off of him kicking, and getting kicked, in the head. Not really your typical boss/employee relationship and all the more reason to get it in writing.

All of this brings us to back to Mirko. While I hope he goes back to Dream with the prospect of fighting top level talent for his last three falights; color me skeptical. As a long time fight fan (both MMA and professional boxing) it's a sure sign that the fighters best days are behind them when squabbles about contracts and events happening "outside of the playing field" get more publicity then the ones that happen on it. That being said, if White's allegations are true than I'll never be more untrusting of another fighter more than I will be of Mirko. While White needs to apologize to MMA fans for his ineptness in dealing with a contract situation regarding a fan favorite, Cro Cop needs to live up to that status and apologize to the fans for flat out screwing them (not the UFC) over. A potential rematch (and subsequent win) over Nogueria or one of the UFC's top prospects (Dos Santos, Carwin or Velasquez) would have gone a long way in silencing the critics. Instead, the possibility that we see a rematch against Hong Man Choi or a fight against James Thompson sadly seems more possible then it did 24 hours ago. 

Unless Cro Cop goes back to the Saitama Super Arena and fights against the likes of a Melvin Manhoef, Sergei Kharitonov and goes out in a blaze of glory against Fedor it's the fans, not Dana White and the UFC, that got shafted. White opened the door and Cro Cop ran out of it (while taking a nice payday back to Zagreb.)

This was  classic example of bad business by White. Cro Cop saw an opportunity and took it knowing he had more money on the table for (possibly easier) work in Japan.

Either that or he was just upset that he was ranked as a "83" overall in the UFC Undisputed video game.

All and all, both parties should apologize to the fans; the sooner the better.