According to FreeFightVideos, Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic has re-signed with Fight Entertainment Groups DREAM MMA promotion for a three-fight deal. The story has been confirmed by Croation Sports Website Sportal.
The article goes on to mentioned that CroCops first bout of his new contract could take place in July in a K-1 Rules matchup against Alistair Overeem. The matchup has quickly climbed the list of potential fights that fans have been pushing to see every since the No Contest bout at DREAM 6 back in September of 2008, and the subsequent war of words between the two men that led to CroCop offering to have Overeem fly to his Croation training facility to fight in his basement.
Interestingly enough, a couple of other rumors came out of the article:
The Japanese promotion Dream where quick to react after it was revealed that Cro Cop was close to signing a deal with the UFC. Dream has offered Cro Cop three fights, two under mixed martial arts rules. One of those could be a December bout with Fedor Emelianenko. Since his 2005 loss to Fedor, Cro Cop has had a strong desire to rematch the worlds best MMA heavyweight.
There have been rumors flying around the MMA blogosphere of a potential DREAM Heavyweight Grand Prix that could see names like Overeem, Kharitonov, CroCop, Fedor, Mark Hunt, and some other fighters in the mix, but there was also the prospect of an Open Weight Grand Prix in the rumor mill as well.
To be perfectly honest, I would have rather seen CroCop make his way back into the UFC. His style is much better suited for the ring, in my opinion, so Im not entirely against his reluctance to step back into the cage. The only real problem I see for CroCop is that he really has diminished in skill in the last year or two.
Overeem isnt exactly an easy fight for anyone since his massive muscle build, and taking on Fedor again is likely going to result in a beating like he withstood before. Good decision or bad decision? You be the judge.