Cro Cop back to Japan

Ugh.

Just plain "ugh."

That was my reaction when I saw the news on Wrestling Observer on Tuesday that Mirko CroCop was heading to Japan where he was going to announce that he was going to be part of a new K-1 funded MMA promotion.

Ugh.

The reports say that CroCop had gone mute after his last UFC loss and that UFC officials didn't know if he was retiring or not. Apparently they set some kind of a deadline to hear from him before they'd cut his contract [I don't understand how you cut a contract and don't have to pay the money... does UFC have contracts like WWE?] It's a little fuzzy on whether or not CroCop told them he wanted to stay but apparently he was told that he should accept a pay cut because his performance thusfar wasn't worth what he was being paid. If only other major sports could get away with that. Kevin Brown, Darren Dreifort, Darryl Strawberry... man, the Dodgers could've gotten a lot of mileage out of that clause.

Cro Cop rightfully told them to stuff it, was cut from his contract, and now has returned to the Land of the Rising Sun.

So much for my MMA dream match of Cro Cop vs Brock.

It's not all bad, I suppose. This new promotion has an alliance with M-1 so we may get another Cro Cop/Fedor fight. And watching Cro Cop fight in Japan is always awesome no matter who the opponent is. He's just a fucking hero to those people. I sent this to a few people earlier in the year but this was his appearance he made at a PRO WRESTLING event on New Year's. Check it out and then have absolutely no question as to why he's going back to Japan.