Cro-Cop vs. Junior dos Santos at UFC 103?

It seems the on again, off again relationship between Mirko “Cro-Cop” Filipovic is back on again.

According to a report on the Gracie Mag website, Dos Santos was quoted as saying he has been moved off the UFC 102 card and on to the UFC 103 card which is scheduled to be held in Dallas on September 19th.

Dos Santos also went on to say that he was at first upset when asked to move back his fight because he had been inactive since UFC 95 but his mood changed when he was told he could possibly be facing the Croatian superstar. He also said that a win over Cro-Cop would put him in really good standing within the heavyweight division of the UFC.

Cro-Cop made his triumphant return to the octagon last month at UFC 99 which was held in Germany. It was believed that he had agreed to a three fight deal with the organization and made it clear that he was hunting for the heavyweight championship. Soon after the bout there were reports that Cro-Cop had signed a new deal with Dream and Dana White went on record criticizing Filopovic for using the UFC and not keeping his word.

This past weekend came the surprise report of UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta flying on his personal jet and making Cro-Cop an offer he couldn’t refuse. It seems that may be the truth and that the reports of Cro-Cop signing with Dream were a little to hasty. Mirko said all along that he was concerned with the amount of time in between fights and wanted to be more active. Fertitta seems to have squelched those concerns for the time being.

Dos Santos made his debut a memorable won when he knocked out heavyweight contender and fellow Brazilian Fabricio Werdum at UFC 90 in less than 90 seconds. He then went on to defeat Stefan Struve at UFC 95 this time in less than one minute. He was scheduled to face Justin McCully at UFC 102 on August 29th but that bout was scrapped due to an injury sustained by McCully.

There is no doubt that adding Cro-Cop to the mix will help sell pay-per-views and seats but how much the kickboxing sensation has left is remained to be seen. Even though he was successful in his last bout against Mustapha al Turk it had more to due with a thumb to Turk’s eye rather than a resounding performance given by Cro-Cop.