Forgotten story: The he said, she said between the UFC and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

Now that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has signed a new UFC contract (his third within the promotion) and is set to fight at UFC 103 there are still lingering questions regarding the aftermath of UFC 99.

The first issue is Dana White's post fight comments and Kevin Iole's report that Filipovic signed a three-fight deal with Dream. Mirko would later claim to have not signed with Dream and was weighing his options as he had only agreed to a one-fight deal with the UFC. Then Mike Kogan, who runs the U.S. operation of Dream's parent company, Fighting and Entertainment Group confirmed that "Cro Cop" had indeed signed with Dream.

The next twist in the story came when Lorenzo Fertitta flew to Croatia to negotiate with Filipovic in his home country. (Quick aside: if Mirko had in fact signed with Dream how/why could Fertitta negotiate a deal?)

Once Filipovic and the UFC agreed to a new contract Kevin Iole reported that Mirko had in fact not signed a contract with Dream as FIlipovic himself claimed in the immediate aftermath. 

So who is being truthful and who is being deceitful?

As of this moment it appears that Filipovic was the most honest party in the whole affair (perhaps some individuals and fans owe him an apology?).

If Mirko did not sign with Dream immediately after UFC 99, as is currently being reported, and it was only his intention to sign with Dream after he fulfilled his one-fight contract; then we can conclude that Mike Kogan and White were, at the very least, attempting to control the narrative if not outright misrepresenting the situation.  

This is nothing to be shocked about, sports executives often attempt to control the media perception when dealing with athlete contract negotiations. Just look at the posturing between the NFL Player's Association and the League office. 

As MMA fans, observers, and online media we need to learn from this situation and continue to strive for quality independent reporting while silumtaneously keeping our knee-jerk blog reactions in check.