Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic uttered the phrase "I don't know" more than a dozen times Tuesday afternoon when asked for his thoughts about why Fedor Emelianenko declined to sign with the UFC, saying over and over again that he can't figure out what is preventing his old Pride rival from fighting in the world's biggest mixed martial arts promotion.Cro Cop, who lost to Fedor four years ago in Pride in a battle that was widely regarded at the time as featuring the two best heavyweights in MMA, said he couldn't come up with a logical explanation for why Fedor would prefer to fight in Strikeforce/M-1 Global co-promotions, rather than in the UFC.
"I don't know, I like Fedor very much as a fighter, as a man, I don't know him well enough to say anything more, I don't know if somebody controls him," Cro Cop said. "I don't know. I don't know the situation. I don't want to insult Fedor, but I really don't understand his attitude. I don't know why he doesn't want to enter the UFC. Definitely the UFC offered him the best possible deal, to pay him much more than Dream can offer or Strikeforce can offer, but he's just refusing to go there. I don't know why. I think he should take the shot but why, what are his reasons, I don't know. I don't think he's afraid, but I think he wants to keep his perfect (record), maybe he thinks the competition in the UFC is too tough. I don't know. I think he should come. Why he's not there, I don't know."
Cro Cop continued in that vein for a couple more minutes, repeatedly saying that he doesn't know what Fedor is thinking in his refusal to sign with the UFC. Cro Cop stressed that he respects Fedor, but he also said he believes the UFC has the best heavyweight division of any MMA promotion, and that he believes Fedor should fight the best.
The bottom line, though, is that Fedor has made it very clear what his reasons are: He's made a business decision to work for M-1 Global exclusively, and he won't fight in the UFC until the UFC agrees to co-promote with M-1. And that means we all need to accept the likelihood that Fedor will never fight in the UFC.
What do you think of Cro Cop's comments? Tell me on Twitter @MichaelDavSmith.
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