UFC 99

(Davis continues to deftly straddle the fence between being an "American Fighter" and an "Irish Hand Grenade," but how long can his loyalties remain divided?)

It’s funny, Dan Hardy was the one who started the war of words prior to UFC 99, but now that the fight’s over it’s Marcus Davis who won’t let it die.  After refusing to shake Hardy’s hand in the Octagon and fuming over the split decision loss as he stormed out of the arena, Davis claimed that Hardy admitted backstage that he lost the fight (which Hardy naturally denied, because that’s just what you do in that situation).  Now Davis is basically demanding a rematch before the year is out, on the grounds that he won 12 of the 15 minutes in their fight:

After a three-day delay, the UFC 99 fight-day installment of the Dana White Video Blog was finally uploaded to youtube.com/ufc, and the massive two-parter feels like any other classic double-album — sure, it would have been "better" if it were edited down to a single video, but then you wouldn't get the scope of the Danavlog's ambition. In the first, more boring half (shown above), Dana roams the streets of Cologne, taking a lot of pictures with fans and getting a taste of the Germans' particular brand of crazy. (See: short-shorts guy at 0:04, crazy dog man at 1:10-1:28, and blue afro lady at 4:57.) He also spends time explaining how this whole UFC thing works to curious German camera crews, winding his way through an endless receiving line at the arena, and congratulating Stefan Struve, who's still sore about that Dos Santos fight. Anyway, you don't need to watch it unless you're a Danavlog completist, but the backstage action picks up in part two...

(Word is he also stole several pairs of those UFC gloves, the bastard.)

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has yet to admit that he really did screw the UFC by bailing on them for Dream after his victory over Mostapha Al-Turk at UFC 99, but it seems as if Dream has gone ahead and outed him anyway.  USA Today’s Sergio Non said he got an email from Mike Kogan, of FEG’s American parent company, confirming that Cro Cop had signed a three-fight deal with the Japanese organization.  If true, this would make Cro Cop look like a dirty, low-down liar, since he initially claimed that it was all a baseless rumor before then switching his stance and referring to it as a “business secret” that he couldn’t discuss. (P.S. Al-Turk's proposed appeal of the eye-poke incident?  Yeah, that isn't going anywhere.)

So here’s our ethical question of the day: Is Cro Cop wrong for ditching the UFC like this, or is he just looking out for his own interests the same way the UFC does when they ditch fighters?

(He was so young and so in possession of two properly functioning eyes once.)

While we were busy speculating wildly about what might happen if Mostapha Al-Turk really does file an appeal with the UFC over his loss via eye-poke at UFC 99 in Germany, Robert Joyner at MMA Payout went ahead and looked at what the standard Zuffa contract has to say about a situation like this.  What a show-off that guy is.  Anyway, here’s what he found:

Any and all Bouts that occur in a jurisdiction or country without an Athletic Commission shall be conducted pursuant to the statutes, rules and regulations of the State of Nevada in effect at the time of the Bout, including, but not limited to, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (the “Nevada Rules”); for the protection of the health and safety of the Fighter, to promote fairness in the administration of the Bout, and to preserve the integrity of the sport of mixed martial arts. In its sole discretion, ZUFFA may utilize the Nevada Rules in the oversight of any Bouts that occur under this Subsection 4.7. Fighter may appeal any advisory opinion by ZUFFA regarding any violations of the Nevada Rules relating only to Bouts that occur in a jurisdiction or country without an official government mandated Athletic Commission to an independent third-party arbitrator or arbitration panel selected pursuant to the guidelines developed by the American Arbitration Association. All costs and fees associated with an appeal taken pursuant to this Section shall be the exclusive responsibility of the Fighter. Regardless of where a Bout occurs, in no event shall a Fighter have any right to appeal a decision by ZUFFA relating to the UFC Title or the UFC Championship belts.

("I'M THE KING OF THE MIDDLE OF THE UFC WELTERWEIGHT LADDER!!! WHOO-HOOOOOO!!!"Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

So how did everybody do with their UFC 99 picks? Did anyone beat our own Ben Fowlkes’s score of 23 points? BF’s picks were straight nasty, with five of the main card fights predicted perfectly. Lucky for you he's ineligible for the DVDs. BG took in a far less impressive 15 points, and fully admits that picking Saunders over Swick was based on emotion, which is poison in the world of the pick-off. People, you must have ice-water in your balls if you hope to win this contest.

If you did well in round 1, let us know your score in the comments section below so we can keep an eye on the front-runners. Of course, even if you struck out with your UFC 99 predictions, there's still a chance you can win the first "Machida-Do Karate for Mixed Martial Arts" set that we're giving away — all you have to do is run the tables this Saturday with your TUF 9 finale picks. Speaking of which...