Steve Bosse

(In Russia, knee blows out *you*!)

— Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has pulled out of DREAM.5 (July 21st; Osaka, Japan) due to nagging injuries to his elbow and knee, as well as an absence of opponents; Mighty Mo Siligia, who was slated to replace Jerome LeBanner against Filipovic, recently withdrew from the event. Cro Cop expects to be ready to compete at DREAM.6 on September 23rd. "I would really like to fight Alistair Overeem, we all know why and I won't let it go," Filipovic said. "My career is far from being over, I'll be fighting some strong competitors soon again and hopefully I'll meet Fedor in the ring once more in 2009."

— Speaking of Fedor, Michael Bisping claims that the Last Emperor will be going into his July 19th Affliction fight against Tim Sylvia less than 100%. "It’s going to be good to see if Fedor is still the man but I’ve heard on the grapevine from inside sources that he could be injured," Bisping told The Sun. "But this is time for Fedor to step up. Everyone knows what Tim Sylvia is all about but Fedor’s had an aura about him for a long time."