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Looks like the DREAM deal fiasco isn’t the only drama to come out of Cro Cop’s potentially very short-lived return to the UFC.

Mostapha Al-Turk is appealing the loss because of the eye-poke.

“We are going to appeal that, we don’t think its right that it should be a TKO. The referee should have got onto the eye poke,” said Al-Turk’s agent Ken Pavia. “Look at Henderson v Franklin at UFC 93 in Dublin. Franklin got a timeout when he got eye-poked.

“With the fight taking place in Germany we aren’t sure what the protocol is, but we will put our appeal in writing and see what we can do.”

At the time of the eye-poke, I think it was pretty apparent how the fight was going to turn out. Hell, it may have even saved Al-Turk from a concussion-inducing head kick. There’s no way of actually knowing if Al-Turk would have made a miraculous comeback or not though, so I suppose he has a somewhat legitimate gripe.

Two problems though.

Hard to blame Dan Miragliota for not stopping it and giving Al-Turk a minute to compose himself when he didn’t see it (who did? happened so fast in real time). Even if he suspected an eye-poke when Al-Turk was bent over holding his face in hands, what happens if he stops it and it wasn’t? He’d be blasted by everyone for that. Best to act off what you see in my opinion.

The other problem is there’s no athletic commission to appeal to in Germany. They’ll have to take the appeal straight to the UFC where you already have one of the majority UFC owners on camera saying it was unfortunate, but everyone felt Cro Cop was probably going to TKO Al-Turk anyways. However, appealing to the UFC could end up working out in their favor if Dana’s still pissed at Mirko. We all know how vindictive he can get when he feels he’s been wronged.

Personally, I gotta agree with Lorenzo on this one. It’s unfortunate, but the result probably wouldn’t have turned out any differently. Much like life, the fight game isn’t always fair.

Update: So, apparently, the UFC has a provision in their contract for this sorta thing. Who knew?

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.

Basically, the appeal would be contested under the NSAC’s rules, a “third-party arbitrator or arbitration panel” would be required, and Al-Turk would have to pay for it.

Two problems for Al-Turk here. As Fightlinker pointed out, in Nevada, Kevin Burns lost his eye-poke case against Anthony Johnson due to a “lack of remedy.” Ridiculous, but true. Then, as Ben Fowlkes pointed out (I know, everyone beat me to the good commentary…overachievers), does Al-Turk making the peanuts he does in the UFC really want to pursue this and blow all his purse money just to go from 6-5-0 to 6-4-1? Probably not.

Learned a long time ago you have know when to pick your battles.

Update II: Marc Ratner, former head of the NSAC & current UFC VP of Regulatory Affairs, has chimed in, and says Al-Turk can’t appeal something that can’t be overturned.

Marc Ratner, UFC Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Monday told MMAWeekly.com an appeal was not possible.

“It’s very simple,” said Ratner. “By the unified rules… first of all the referee didn’t see the foul. What you’re asking is can we go to instant replay. You’re saying now that the fight’s over, can you take a look at it? If the referee had seen the finger and stopped the fight immediately, he could have given a stop for five minutes to recover, and then if (Al-Turk) couldn’t have gone on, it would have been a no-contest.”

Ratner, who headed the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) prior to current Executive Director Keith Kizer, chalked the incident up to a judgment call on Mirgliotta’s part.

“In any sport, a judgment call cannot be overturned,” he continued. “It’s one of those things that happens, but nobody saw it around the Octagon until the replay.”

There you have it. Case closed.

UFC 99 “The Comeback” took place earlier this evening at the Lanxess Arena in Cologne, Germany.

In the night’s main event, Wanderlei Silva looked to get back on the winning track against Rich Franklin.

In a heavyweight match-up, Cain Velasquez and Cheick Kongo squared off to help clear up the heavyweight title picture.

Mike Swick and Ben Saunders faced off in an exciting welterweight match-up.

Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy finally got the opportunity to put their money where their mouth is in a grudge match.

Caol Uno made his UFC return against veteran Spencer Fisher.

Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ made his highly anticipated UFC return against Mostapha Al-Turk.

Results and wrap-up after the jump.

Mirko Cro Cop makes his UFC return against Mostapha Al-Turk tomorrow, June 13, in Germany at UFC 99.

Remember the other day when we were wondering if someone forgot to tell Todd Duffee that Cro Cop was fighting Mostapha Al-Turk at UFC 99 instead of him?

Well, turns out no one forgot. Duffee may still be fighting Al-Turk after all.

Not sure what it is, but something is going on behind-the-scenes that may hinder Cro Cop from making his return to the UFC on June 13. For starters, despite his own announcement and Dana White’s confirmation, Cro Cop has still yet to sign the actual contract.

We’ve been flooded with e-mails on this one in the last 24 hours.  The Mirko Cro Cop deal for the 6/13 UFC show is that Cro Cop has not yet signed his contract so the fight isn’t being advertised, but everyone is still under the impression Cro Cop is fighting on the show in Cologne, Germany.  They wanted Cro Cop to sell tickets to people coming in from Croatia, but the longer they wait to announce it, the harder it’ll be to get people to travel in.  They were hopeful it could be signed by tomorrow but there is a holdup that doesn’t have to do with Cro Cop/UFC negotiations.

Why hasn’t he signed is the obvious question that no one has the answer to yet. Fightlinker is speculating it may have something to do with DREAM and a right of first refusal. Makes sense to me, but really, who knows.

What I do know is UFC 99 is 13 days away, and I was really looking forward to seeing Cro Cop back in the UFC, so whatever it is, hopefully it gets worked out before it’s too late.

Update: Awesome news. Whatever the issue was, it’s been worked out. UFC.com made the official announcement earlier today. Cro Cop will face Al-Turk on the main card of UFC 99.

Update II: CroCop didn’t actually sign anything. He made a verbal agreement with Dana to fight at UFC 99.

Or is Cro Cop not fighting Mostapha Al-Turk at UFC 99?

The reason I’m asking is because MMAForReal.com did an interview with Todd Duffee, the fighter who was originally signed to fight Al-Turk before the UFC re-signed Mirko Cro Cop, and he says he’s still under the impression he’s fighting Al-Turk at UFC 99.

Rich Wyatt: It was recently reported that you have signed with Zuffa to compete in the UFC. However, with Cro Crop supposedly back in the fold, it appears that he might have taken your spot on the card in Germany next month. Any idea when you may next be booked for a fight?

Todd Duffee: As far as I’m concerned I’m still scheduled to fight on the card in Germany. I’m still in preparation for this June 13th fight against Mustapha.

Nice, for the record, prior to the Cro Cop announcement, which Dana White confirmed, Duffee vs Al-Turk was listed on the official UFC 99 event page. It’s been taken down since, however, there’s still no sign of Cro Cop either. Nor has an official announcement been made that I’m aware of.

Is Cro Cop’s return at UFC 99 not quite solidified like we thought? UFC 99 is 15 days away, so I assume we’ll be hearing something official soon.

Image courtesy of Sherdog.com

All the rumors and speculation can finally end.

Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ has decided to forego the familiarity of Japan for the strength of competition and a chance at redemption in the UFC.

Cro Cop made the announcement earlier today on his blog.

I decided to fight in the UFC again, because of the stronger competition in the heavyweight division. My next opponent will be Mustapha Al-Turk.

I didn’t do well in my first three appearances – I wasn’t myself. By returning to the cage I want to prove that I can still fight at highest level, no matter when or where.

It’s hard to talk about concrete plans, but I would really like to fight at least three times this year. I wish to fight against quality opponents and to fight my way up to a title shot but for now, I’ll focus only on my next fight and after that we’ll see what’s going to be on the menu next.

I want to say thank you Mr. Dana White for your interest and for an invitation back to the UFC. I owe you a lot from our first deal, and I’ll make it up to you.

As Cro Cop mentions, his first opponent will be Mustapha Al-Turk, and according to a press release on his official site, the fight will be taking place on June 13 at UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany. For the record, Al-Turk is still scheduled to fight Todd Duffee according to the official UFC 99 event page. However, if the deal was recently inked, they may have not had the chance to change it yet (lets hope).

With his knee surgery behind him, Cro Cop is currently training at his gym in Croatia. With UFC 99 less than a month away, it doesn’t give him a whole lot of time to prepare, but at least they didn’t throw him straight to the wolves in his first fight back.

Cro Cop has stated in the past that he has finally been able to get past the mental blocks that have prevented him from fighting at his full abilities. In less than a month, it looks like we’re going to find out if that’s actually the case. Here’s to hoping it is.

Update: To erase any doubts, Dana White has confirmed Cro Cop will return against Al-Turk at UFC 99.