Mirko CroCrap signs with the Dream Promotion

AS reported by MMA Junkie:

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic (22-6-2 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has left the UFC and signed with a new fight promotion called DREAM, it was announced today at a press conference in Japan.
Filipovic will make his debut with the organization at DREAM 1, a March 15 show in Saitama, Japan.

The new organization was founded by the Fight Entertainment Group, which is the parent company of the successful K-1 promotion, and former executives of the now-defunct PRIDE Fighting Championships, which was bought out and dismantled by the UFC’s parent company a year ago.

Rumblings that the Croatian fighter may be leaving the UFC heated up over the past few days as Filipovic posted blog entries teasing a big announcement. Over the past few days, MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) spoke to numerous sources close to the UFC, who could only confirm that Filipovic “might” be on his way out of the organization.

Filipovic, who made his octagon debut at UFC 67 with a first-round TKO of Eddie Sanchez, has since suffered back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo. They were the first consecutive losses of the fighter’s career, and they led to speculation that Filipovic might consider retirement.

After the September 2007 loss Kongo, Filipovic did admit that the thought of quitting crossed him mind. However, he later stated that he expected to return to the UFC in early 2008.
However, during press events for UFC 81 earlier this month, UFC President Dana White said that Filipovic and his camp hadn’t been in contact with the organization. White said he was forced to implement a Feb. 4 deadline for the fighter to confirm whether or not he would be continuing his career with the UFC.

It’s believed that the UFC requested that Filipovic renegotiate a new deal. During UFC 66 in December 2006, the UFC officially announced that Filipovic, the PRIDE FC 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix champion, had signed a lucrative two-year, six-fight deal with the organization. Apparently, Filipovic was unwilling to do redo the deal, and the UFC opted to let him walk instead.