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20/01/09 - CroCop will be offered 'multi-fight deal'
Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filopovic will be offered a multi-fight deal if he and the UFC can come to terms.
UFC president Dana White told Fighters Only this week that he is in talks with the Croatian kickboxer about a return to the Octagon.
Asked if there was any truth to rumours Filopovic would be returning for UFC 99 in Germany, White admitted: “Well, its true that I am talking to CroCop again.”
In a blog post earlier this year, Filopovic spoke of retirement, but also said he hopes to fight three times in 2009 and would like the last fight of his career to be in the UFC.
But White replied with an emphatic “no” when asked if Filopovic would be offered a one-fight deal should an accommodation be reached between the two parties.
The Pride veteran arrived in the UFC on a tidal wave of hype after winning the Pride FC Open Weight Grand Prix in 2006.
But he failed to replicate that form in the Octagon, being KO’d by Gabriel Gonzaga and losing a decision to Cheick Kongo.
Following the losses, Filopovic elected to return to fighting in Japan rather than take a paycut, but his previous form has eluded him there as well.
Aside from an embarrassingly one-sided win over a Japanese journeyman, Filopovic has done little in the latest stage of his Japanese career.
A recent grudge fight with Alistair Overeem ended in a no contest after Filopovic received several low blows, but he subsequently declined a rematch.
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