UFC 99 (The Comeback ft Cro Cop!)

[Rappy Veteran]

Main card

* Catchweight (195 lb) bout: Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva

* Heavyweight bout: Cain Velasquez vs. Heath Herring

* Welterweight bout: Mike Swick vs. Ben Saunders

* Welterweight bout: Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy

* Lightweight bout: Spencer Fisher vs. Caol Uno

Preliminary card

* Lightweight bout: Terry Etim vs. Justin Buchholz

* Lightweight bout: Dennis Siver vs. Dale Hartt

* Welterweight bout: Paul Taylor vs. Peter Sobotta

* Lightweight bout: Paul Kelly vs. Rolando Delgado

* Heavyweight bout: Denis Stojnic vs. Stefan Struve

* Heavyweight bout: Mostapha Al Turk vs. Todd Duffee

* Welterweight bout: John Hathaway vs. Rick Story

Rich Franklin to Train With Anderson Silva in Preparation For UFC 99 Fight With Wanderlei

Former UFC middleweight champion Rich Franklin will turn to an old foe that thoroughly manhandled him on two different occasions en route to capturing and defending the middleweight championship. That?s right, Franklin will work with current UFC MW champion Anderson Silva as he prepares for a UFC 99 scrap with Wanderlei Silva.

Sources close to Silva, who still holds the UFC middleweight title, recently told the Dayton Daily News that the champ has agreed to train with Franklin, who meets dangerous striker Wanderlei Silva at a June 13 UFC 99 event in Germany.

Also from the Dayton Daily News article:

Franklin recently took off for Seattle to commence his usual fight camp under Matt Hume, and he?ll apparently spend some time training with Silva in California while he?s away.

Franklin first got a taste of Silva ? and his nasty clinch game ? in October 2006, where he lost via TKO. In a rematch in October 2007, which was hosted in Franklin?s home town of Cincinnati, featured yet another TKO loss to the man who has walked through the UFC MW division.

Both Anderson and Wanderlei were friends and training partners in the past, but have now had a growing war of words. The current MW champ will help Franklin work both his offensive and defensive Muay Thai skills, especially in the clinch, where Wanderlei has shown to be effective in the past.

Since leaving the UFC MW division to move up in weight to fight at light heavyweight, he has a 1-1 record, beating Matt Hamill before losing a split decision to Dan Henderson. The UFC 99 bout will be fought at an agreed upon catchweight while Silva transitions to 185 and Franklin will go back up to 205.

Edited May 19, 2009 by Rappy

[DiEMOS]

Hard to pick, i like both guys, I think it will be a great fight. I don't even know who i want to win.

[Rappy Veteran]

Cro-Cop Returns!!!

PRIDE and K-1 superstar Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (24-6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) says he is making his return to the UFC following a 20-month hiatus from the sport's biggest organization.

Filipovic stated in his MMA-ID blog that he was hoping for three fights this year in the UFC, and a subsequent press release from the Croatian striker's official website confirmed the news.

Filipovic claims he will be fighting Mostapha Al Turk (6-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 99 in Germany, and an additional report from The Wrestling Observer cites UFC President Dana White as having confirmed the bout.

Al Turk had originally been slated to meet debuting American Top Team heavyweight Todd Duffee (4-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) on the preliminary card of the June 13 event in Cologne, Germany.

The official fight card for the event on the UFC's website still shows Al Turk vs. Duffee on the evening's schedule.

Filipovic's original MMA-ID blog is included, unedited, below:

Back in the UFC

So we have some big news!

I decided to fight in the UFC again, because of the stronger competition in the heavyweight division. My next opponent will be Mustapha Al-Turk.

I didn't do well in my first three appearances - I wasn't myself. By returning to the cage I want to prove that I can still fight at highest level, no matter when or where.

It's hard to talk about concrete plans, but I would really like to fight at least three times this year. I wish to fight against quality opponents and to fight my way up to a title shot but for now, I'll focus only on my next fight and after that we'll see what's going to be on the menu next.

I want to say thank you Mr. Dana White for your interest and for an invitation back to the UFC. I owe you a lot from our first deal, and I'll make it up to you.

Thanks everyone for supporting me all the way - we are back in business!

Mirko

The press release from Filipovic's official website is also included, unedited, below:

PRESS RELEASE: Cro Cop Back In UFC

These days the boys from Cro Cop team are training in full force. After a long break and highly demanding recovery process, Mirko Cro Cop is ready to fight in MMA again.

All problems with injuries are history and Cro Cop is very optimistic to start another chapter in his career: "I feel great, the recovery process is going well and we train at high intensity now. I never had such a strong desire to prove myself and I'll climb up again, or die trying."

Mirko's next fight is set for June 13th in Germany, which means that he's back in the UFC, a place that he didn't have his best moments: "I decided to fight in the UFC again, because of the stronger competition in the heavyweight division. My next opponent will be Mustapha Al-Turk. I didn't do well in my first three appearances - I wasn't myself. By returning to the cage I want to prove that I can still fight at highest level, no matter when or where," claims Cro Cop.

UFC 99 will be Cro Cop's first fight this year with the possibility of three fights coming by years end. "It's hard to talk about concrete plans, but I would really like to fight at least three times this year. I wish to fight against quality opponents and to fight my way up to a title shot but for now, I'll focus only on my next fight and after that we'll see what's going to be on the menu next," says Cro Cop. Although the UFC 99 card looks stacked, it seems that the UFC officials can see the benefits of hiring a top European fighter for their first ever UFC show in Germany.

"I want to say thank you Mr. Dana White for your interest and for an invitation back to the UFC. I owe you a lot from our first deal, and I'll make it up to you," promises Cro Cop.

All news related to Mirko Cro Cop's career are posted on Mirko's official MMA-ID profile on http://www.mma-id.com/CROCOP and Mirko's official homepage http://www.mirko-crocop.com.

Yours truly,

The CROCOP Team

Sources close to Duffee were unaware of any potential changes to the UFC 99 card when contacted by MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

Filipovic originally entered the UFC as a highly regarded heavyweight in February 2007. The devastating striker entered the UFC on a four-fight win streak that included victories over Josh Barnett, Wanderlei Silva, Hidehiko Yoshida and Ikuhisa Minowa.

After earning a victory in his UFC debut over Eddie Sanchez, Filipovic then suffered a devastating knockout at the hands of Gabriel Gonzaga and a lackluster decision loss to Cheick Kongo. The UFC and Filipovic parted ways at that time, thought both insisted "Cro Cop" would eventually return to the organization.

Filipovic has since earned TKO wins over Hong Man Choi and Tatsuya Mizuno in Japan, while battling through repeated illegal groin shots to settle for a no contest against Alistair Overeem.

[Zoom7000]

What's interesting is that the UFC still aren't advertising Cro Cop at UFC 99 on their website and there was no mention of it yesterday at UFC 98. Will be interesting if he does make his return, but he'll probably win easily.

[Rappy Veteran]

What's interesting is that the UFC still aren't advertising Cro Cop at UFC 99 on their website and there was no mention of it yesterday at UFC 98. Will be interesting if he does make his return, but he'll probably win easily.

They mentioned it on UFC 98, Joe was talking about UFC 99 and then the other commentator said and the return of Cro-Cop.

[timster]

An announced bout between Heath Herring and Cain Velasquez is off due to an illness that Herring is suffering. Cheick Kongo was announced as the replacement on the 20th of May.

[+StevoFC MVC]

I don't think I'll be getting this one on PPV.

[Rappy Veteran]

I don't think I'll be getting this one on PPV.

I am interested to see if Cro-Cop has improved

[+StevoFC MVC]

I am interested to see if Cro-Cop has improved

There are so many other events in June that I think I'll just end up disappointed with UFC 99. The weekend before, June 6 and 7, is Strikeforce on Showtime and WEC on Versus. I think both of those events will be better than UFC 99 the following week. Then then 19th is a Strikeforce Challengers show. Throw in a ton of other MMA events on HDNet in between and there's no time for the UFC PPV. lol

[TheElite]

Not impressed with Crocop. First he wins with a poke in the eye and then says "It's not a thing that changes a fight". What a moron. Lost any respect I had for him.

[Bubbabyte]

CROCOP LEAVES UFC, DANA WHITE ****ED

^^ pretty ****ty, but to be honest he didn't look impressive AT ALL. Not to mention according to dana he turned down a few different fighters (ie Cain) and took Al-Turk who is 0-1 in the ufc and won with an eye poke. Congrats Crocop, i hope you enjoy beating all your no name Japanese fighters in Dream.

On a side note.. the Silva vs Franklin fight was amazing... I love both fighters, but was rooting for silva only because he always puts on a show and i would like to continue seeing him around for a while, but he's on a losing streak.

[Unkoil]

First of all to ZAnwars, Dan Rosenthal never saw it so there's nothing to do but to continue hitting your opponent besides after that happened he looked at the Rosenthal and he made no remarks to stop. Anyhow its like karma for Cro Cop getting hit in the nuts by Kongo and Overeem.

Bubbabyte,

The article you provided, has already been shot down by Cro Cop himself saying its a lie, as of right now he is a free agent.

[HardSide]

First of all to ZAnwars, Dan Rosenthal never saw it so there's nothing to do but to continue hitting your opponent besides after that happened he looked at the Rosenthal and he made no remarks to stop. Anyhow its like karma for Cro Cop getting hit in the nuts by Kongo and Overeem.

Bubbabyte,

The article you provided, has already been shot down by Cro Cop himself saying its a lie, as of right now he is a free agent.

I'd fire Rosenthal in a heart beat, he should be watching on the side, not behind Cro-cop as he is fighting. Secondly Cro-cop already said this was a temporary fight to prove to people that mock his age and skills, and he is already back with Dream Entertainment, and said he may or may not come back to UFC.

[DiEMOS]

yea, cro cops a bitch, plus he didnt look that good. I lost a lot of respect for him and he used to be one of my favorite fighters.

[Rappy Veteran]

yea, cro cops a bitch, plus he didnt look that good. I lost a lot of respect for him and he used to be one of my favorite fighters.

same :(