Cro Cop goes ‘home’

Cro Cop returns to MMA, but not as we expected. He’s gone back to his ‘second home’ of Japan to fight in new promotion DREAM. The UFC let him go due to his two consecutive losses, and Cro Cop couldn’t be happier. “Many people will consider I come back to Japan because I couldn’t win in UFC, but it is not true. I’m going to go back to UFC someday and have a good result,” he said at the press conference (pictured). Also signed to DREAM: Sakuraba, Shinya Aoki, JZ Calvancanti, Caol Uno, KID Yamamoto and Fedor (they say). First event will be held 15th March.

Jiu-Jitsu rules

You might not have realised this, but four of the UFC’s five champions are black belts in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. BJ Penn, Matt Serra, Anderson Silva, and recently crowned heavyweight king Antonio Rodrigo ‘Minotauro’ Nogueira (who actually gave Silva his black belt) prove that ground skills are essential to get to the top in MMA.

Igor Vovchanchyn won’t be coming back

Igor Vovchanchyn, the first Russian fighter we used to get excited about, has finally let the world know he is calling it a day. “I’m a businessman now,” he said. “I won’t come back. Sure I think about it every once in a while, but I’m 35, you know. The main problem is the injuries. I can’t even strike with my right hand. I got three screws in my right elbow and one in the left. To sum things up, there is no sense in my comeback.”

Fedor continues to disappoint

First it was a 7-foot freak with no experience. Now Fedor will fight the winner of a reality TV show, where the prize is, believe it or not, a chance to fight Fedor. It’s called, imaginatively, ‘Fighting Fedor’. OK, we admit it, we’ll be watching, but isn’t that like winning a lottery only to be given a death sentence as your prize?

HDNet is gunning for the UFC

Randy Couture has received some big backing from HDNet, the TV network owned by Mark Cuban. HDNet are filing an ‘exploratory’ suit against the UFC to determine Randy’s contract status. If they win, it could open the door for Randy to fight Fedor. ‘Realistically, we could see this fight in the fall,” says Couture, who has signed an ‘agreement in principle’ contract with HDNet. Cuban is looking to reshape the market by testing the legality of the contracts the UFC hold their fighters under by referring to the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, which prevents boxers from being under exclusive contracts. If MMA fighters are found to be protected under the act, it could change the entire game.

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