Pride is in deep sh*t after the yakuza connection scandal earlier this year.
They lost several TV contracts, and a LOT of income.
My guess is that crocop is leaving the ship early (maybe pride could not afford the price he asked to renew his contract), while at the same time go to a organization where he can get the pleasure of kick new ass. And lets face it. Cropcop is head and shoulder above most of what ufc can put against him, maybe he just wants to prove that.
Everyone is jumping on the sherdog and mmaweekly report from someone in the camp like he signed the contract. With crocop though he is very hard to negotiate and loves to use leverage to get what he wants. MMaweekly had peviously said he has another fight on his contract yet.
Sakaikbara just held a confrence last night stating that he wants to use crocop in febuary.
This could mean a number of things, pride thinks crocop is loyal, crocop has 1 more fight in pride before he can sign with ufc, pride is low on money and will let him do some fights in ufc, you guys need to calm down until the contract is signed and we hear mirko say he is out of pride full time and in ufc full time.
I would love to be in the crowd during CC vs. Tim. I'd bring a huge garbage bag hoping that I'll be the lucky one to catch Sylvia's giant head after it's catapulted into the crowd via left roundhouse.
Well not according to mirkos manager, sounds like i was right when it came to leverage, pride has gave into mirko before.
This was from crocops manager.
Dont count your chickens before they hatch guys.
"Crocop's manager Zvonimir Luchic said that the statements about Mirko signing for UFC are false. He said that the only reason why Mirko will skip Pride Shockwave is his recovery after operation. Regarding Crocop's decision where he will countinue his career, Luchic said that they are waiting for better offer from Pride, and that the final decision will be in January 2007."
"Here is the source, for those who understand croatian: http://www.tportal.hr/sport/ostalo/fset.html (thanx to bero) The title of the article is: "Crocop is still PRIDE fighter
Hmmm...my threads back up again....well, if Pride does fold altogether, CC may have made a good dec to jump ship first to get the good deal and Fedor and Nog could potentially be in the UFC later anyhow.......BUT....if not, the unavenged losses to Fedor and Nog will stay over CCs legacy like a persistent grey cloud...esp. when i think he would be a fav to beat Nog and still def has his chances vs. Fedor, probably the best shot to beat Fedor still....
I believe CC has a lot more potential to let his MMA career grow in the UFC than in Pride.
If he stays with Pride and gets a rematch with Fedor, he will probably lose. Then about the only fight left for him would be a rematch with Nog. After that, unless he wants to be a Pride "gatekeeper" like Randleman, there isn't much left for him in Pride except to live in Fedor's shadow.
Much better for him to fight in the UFC, then decisively clean out the weak division until his contract expires. Then he could sit back and let a bidding war ensue between the UFC and Pride(assuming they don't fold).
Anderson and CC coming to the UFC couldnt be a better thing for Dana, TUFers AND the hardcore heads.
Still, i dont understand why the ha has are coming about with Pride going down. Both orgs have their crystals clear pros and cons but Pride rules and judging are what everyone bitching about the UFCs is the answer to. I will always prefer Pride production to the UFCs but at the same time, some shake up in the mma world is good too.
The bottom line for a real fan though is to be able to see matchups we need to see. Yeah, it will be fun seeing CC giving it to Sylvia but what its the UFC/Pride LHW, etc matchups that are more in need to happen.
Does Pride have anyone as big a draw as Crocop? Are even Yoshida or Silva as big a draw as Mirko? He seemed to be the most popular fighter and the guy events were built around, and his path of destruction through the OWGP could only have doubled that.