Clark Kent
<B>News Bot</B>
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02-19-2010 06:40 PM:
Now this is getting frustrating. Kudos to the UFC for trying expand internationally but the shakiness of the news cycle around UFC 110 in Australia is proving this is still a very big world. It came down yesterday that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's fight against Ben Rothwell could be down the drain. That was until veteran Aussie fighter Anthony Perosh stepped up to fight Cro Cop. Rothwell backed out because he's been fighting a stomach flu.
Now there's the odd news that Cro Cop suffered a cut over one of his eyes during training this week. He refused to bow out of the match, got it stitched up and will fight tomorrow.
Cagewriter tracked down Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole (pictured) who filled us in on some of the details. Yahoo! spoke with UFC Managing Director of International Development Marshall Zelaznik, who said he was unaware of any Cro Cop cut.
Iole also cleared up questions about allowing Perosh to serve as a last second replacement. Some blogs have written that this would have never been approved if there was a commission in Australia. There is a commission that regulates the fights in Sydney. Craig Waller of the New South Wales Commission deemed Perosh a credible fight. Perosh was in training and looks to be in fighting shape. In fact, his addition adds a good storyline since he was helping Igor Pokrajac get ready for his fight on this card. Pokrajac, a prospect in the his second UFC fight, was a student of Cro Cop until recently. There were also reports earlier today that Quinton Jackson and Randy Couture, both in Australia, were offered the fight.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
Now there's the odd news that Cro Cop suffered a cut over one of his eyes during training this week. He refused to bow out of the match, got it stitched up and will fight tomorrow.
Cagewriter tracked down Yahoo! Sports Kevin Iole (pictured) who filled us in on some of the details. Yahoo! spoke with UFC Managing Director of International Development Marshall Zelaznik, who said he was unaware of any Cro Cop cut.
Iole also cleared up questions about allowing Perosh to serve as a last second replacement. Some blogs have written that this would have never been approved if there was a commission in Australia. There is a commission that regulates the fights in Sydney. Craig Waller of the New South Wales Commission deemed Perosh a credible fight. Perosh was in training and looks to be in fighting shape. In fact, his addition adds a good storyline since he was helping Igor Pokrajac get ready for his fight on this card. Pokrajac, a prospect in the his second UFC fight, was a student of Cro Cop until recently. There were also reports earlier today that Quinton Jackson and Randy Couture, both in Australia, were offered the fight.
MMAxion learned that the UFC offered Randy the fight and Couture but Rampage Quinton Jackson, but both are understandably refused to fight Cro Copa without any preparation.
There is no confirmation that either fighter was offered. The story seems preposterous considering Couture is less than two weeks removed from his fight at UFC 109 and Jackson is slated for a fight in late May against rival Rashad Evans and hasn't been training. He also appears to be a beefy 225-230 pounds right now.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
