(“I got your pay cut right here…”)

And so ends the sad tale of Mirko Filipovic joining the UFC; alack, t’wasn’t meant to be.

After the UFC tried to downwardly re-negotiate terms on the the struggling heavyweight legend’s contract, Mirko Cro Cop said “Ne slažem se,” then flew to Japan where he announced his signing to a new fight club called DREAM. The Japanese promotion was recently founded by Fight Entertainment Group (owners of K-1) along with former executives of Dream Stage Entertainment (PRIDE).

We’re not so much feelin’ the name, but these dudes are coming out swinging: In addition to a heavyweight bout between Filipovic and a yet-unnamed opponent, DREAM’s inaugural show at the Saitama Super Arena on March 15th will also include the first round of a lightweight Grand Prix tournament which will feature that fight between Shinya Aoki and Gesias “JZ” Calvancante. Nightmare of Battle reports that such international stars as Gilbert Melendez, Andre Dida, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Caol Uno, Joachim Hansen, and Luiz Azeredo will also be participating in the tournament, and MMA Junkie says that Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto and Kazushi Sakuraba have been booked for bouts at the first DREAM show as well.

Though no formal statement from the UFC has been released yet, we’re looking forward to Dana White calling Cro Cop a “farce” who “isn’t a top-ten heavyweight anyway.”

Dana White, Joe Rogan, BJ Penn, Joe Stevenson, and Gabriel Gonzaga get us hyped for UFC 80:

(Props: MMA Fever)

Manny Gamburyan performing the leg lock that blew-out Nate Mohr’s knee at UFC 79:

And finally, here’s Japanese MMA star Genki “Neo-Samurai” Sudo competing on the Most Extreme Elimination Challenge-esque TV show Ninja Warrior. So close!

(Props: Bloody Elbow)

Fedor vs. Hong is what got us to wake up at 6 a.m. on our day off — but the real highlight of “Yarennoka!”/”Fedor Returns” was easily the 8-minute battle between 187-pounders Kazuo Misaki (black trunks) and Yoshihiro Akiyama (red trunks). Misaki’s wild jumping-bean dance can’t save him from being floored by a punch from Akiyama, who nearly pounds him out on the ground, but Misaki rallies back toward a spectacular finish. Still, there was more behind this fight than the action. Yeo Jong-Hoon gives some historical and political context to the matchup in this article on FightOpinion, and clarifies that what we thought was Misaki paying tribute to Akiyama after the fight was actually him chastising the Korean-born fighter in front of a packed arena. Harsh! A must-read article and a must-see video.

We didn’t write much about it in the liveblog because it was pretty much over before it began and it didn’t end any differently than anyone expected. But here’s the video evidence of the last great (?) fight of 2007. Pause the vid at the 1:29 mark for the best representation of the size difference. Fedor is just a toy that Hong is playing with. And vice-versa, of course…

It’s early as hell, so you bloodsuckers better appreciate this. If you’re awake too, reload the page every couple minutes and check out our commentary on this sad freak show historic event after the jump. If not, do me a favor and read this when you do wake up. I need to feel like my life has a purpose.

As reported on MixFight.ru and Fight Opinion, a press conference was held in Japan today to shed more light on the MMA show headlined by Fedor Emelianenko on New Year’s Eve. The event will be “supported” by M-1 Global, and will feature Shinya Aoki, Mitsuhiro Ishida, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Gilbert Melendez, Hayato Mach Sakurai, Hidehiko Hasegawa, Ricardo Arona, Kazuo Misaki, Joachim Hansen and Luis Azeredo. The specific match-ups don’t seem to be announced yet, and as you’ve probably noticed, Hong Man Choi is suspiciously absent from the list. As the MixFight story says, “There are negotiations going on with other famous ex-Pride fighters who would contribute to the event,” and the show will be broadcast by SkyPerfecTV PPV. For another brilliant example of MMAFightline declaring things in headlines that are sourced nowhere in the article, go here.

It’s not the first time that this rumor has been brought up — so take it with every grain of salt you can get your hands on — but M-1 Mix Fight (the Russian precursor to M-1 Global) has reported that the first M-1 Global event will take place in Japan’s Saitama Super Arena on New Year’s Eve, and that more details will be posted on the site later.

Whoa, fingers crossed! But there’s one thing that concerns me. When they say “No one other than four times Pride Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko will fight in the main event,” could that possibly mean that Fedor will be in the ring by himself? People, I wouldn’t rule out any possibility at this point…