Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic informed Croation Sports Magazine Sportske-Novosti that he has resumed training after successful surgery to repair the ligament damage in his knee.

"I'm training as much as I can at this stage of the recovery," said Filipovic. "I'm mainly working on weights and cardio with conditioning coach Jukic. As things stand at the moment I can say that the operation went very well."

Filipovic has fulfilled his contract with Japanese MMA promotion DREAM and has had preliminary discussions with both the UFC and and another US based MMA organization believed to be Affliction.

"I'm in talks with the Japanese which of course is natural, since they treated me so well over the years," said Filipovic. "It's not a secret anymore that the UFC have contacted me. I'm also in talks with another US organization."

Filipovic stated that he'd decide on an organization within a month though the former PRIDE Grand Prix Champion admitted he'd be unable to fight for several months thereafter.

What an entertaining show on the New Year's Eve when FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008 comes to us live from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan on Wednesday, December 31, 2008.

Here are the official results for the event:

• Opening Fight: K-1 KOSHIEN Reserve Fight/K-1 KOSHIEN Rules: Taishi Hiratsuka (Japan/Chubu Area 3rd Place) def. Daizo Sasaki (Japan/Kanto Area 2nd Place) by KO at 1:00 of Round 2

• Fight #1: DREAM Rules: MINOWAMAN (Japan) def. Errol Zimmerman (Suriname/Golden Glory) by submission (ankle hold) at 1:01 of Round 1

• Fight #2: K-1 KOSHIEN Semifinal/K-1 KOSHIEN Rules: Koya Urabe (Japan/Kanto Area 1st Place) def. Ryuya Kusakabe (Japan/Chubu Area 1st Place) by TKO at 2:29 of Round 3

• Fight #3: K-1 KOSHIEN Semifinal/K-1 KOSHIEN Rules: HIROYA (Japan) def. Shota Shimada (Japan) by unanimous decision

• Fight #4: K-1 Rules: Artur Kyshenko (Ukraine/Captain Odessa) def. Yoshihiro Sato (Japan/FULLCAST/Nagoya JK Factory) by split decision

• Fight #5: DREAM Rules: Daisuke Nakamura (Japan/U-FILE CAMP.com) def. Hideo Tokoro (Japan/Team ZST) by submission (armbar) at 2:43 of Round 1

• Fight #6: DREAM Rules: Andy Ologun (Nigeria/Team Ologun) def. Yukio Sakaguchi (Japan/Sakaguchi Dojo Yokohama) by KO at 3:52 of Round 1

• Fight #7: K-1 KOSHIEN Final/K-1 KOSHIEN Rules: HIROYA (Japan) def. Koya Urabe (Japan/Kanto Area 1st Place) by unanimous decision

• Fight #8: DREAM Rules: Bob Sapp (USA/Team Beast) def. Kinniku Mantaro by TKO at 5:22 of Round 1

• Fight #9: DREAM Rules: Semmy Schilt (Holland/Seido Kaikan) def. Mighty Mo (USA) by submission (triangle choke) at 5:31 of Round 1

• Fight #10: DREAM Rules: Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (Japan/Mach Dojo) def. Katsuyori Shibata (Japan/ARMS) by TKO at 7:01 of Round 1

• Fight #11: K-1 Rules: Tatsuya Kawajiri (Japan/T-BLOOD) def. Kozo Takeda (Japan/Jiseikan) by KO at 2:47 of Round 1

• Fight #12: K-1 Rules: Alistair Overeem (Holland/Golden Glory) def. Badr Hari (Morocco/Show Time) by KO at 2:02 of Round 1

• Fight #13: DREAM Rules: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (Croatia/Cro Cop Squad) def. Choi Hong-man (Republic of Korea) by KO at 6:32 of Round 1

• Fight #14: K-1 Rules: Gegard Mousasi (Holland/Red Devil International) def. Musashi (Japan/Seido Kaikan) by KO at 2:32 of Round 1

• Fight #15: DREAM Rules: Melvin Manhoef (Holland/Show Time) def. Mark Hunt (New Zealand/Oceania Super Fighter Gym) by KO at 0:18 of Round 1

• Fight #16: DREAM Rules: Shinya Aoki (Japan/Paraestra Tokyo) def. Eddie Alvarez (USA/Fight Factory) by submission (heel hold) at 1:32 of Round 1

• Fight #17: DREAM Rules: Joachim Hansen (Norway/Frontline Academy) vs. Gesias "JZ Calvan" Calvancante (Brazil/American Top Team) was canceled*

• Fight #18: DREAM Rules: Kiyoshi Tamura (Japan/U-FILE CAMP.com) def. Kazushi Sakuraba (Japan/Laughter7) by unanimous decision

*Hansen didn't pass a pre-fight medical examination, reportedly due to a recent hospitalization for a head injury.

Ben Askren, a 2008 Olympic wrestler, who just returned from the Beijing Olympics will soon decide if he will continue to work toward the 2012 Olympic Games in London or make a move into the MMA.

The University of Missouri wrestler, who won the 2006 and 2007 NCAA National Championship in wrestling in the 174-pound weight class, is a long time fan of the sport and sees the level of competition he could face as a whole new challenge.

"I see it as the ultimate competition, one man against another man, very limited rules, and the toughest guy wins. So that's definitely what I like about it," said Askren.

He competed at 174 pounds while in college and at 163 pounds while in the Olympics, but he said if fighting is his ultimate choice, he would compete in the 170-pound welterweight division.

He has worked in Missouri with a local gym rolling in jiu-jitsu a couple of times a week already, but has very limited striking experience to his credit. Askren is realistic about a move into MMA and knows he has a lot to learn.

"I'm not going to go in the cage unprepared," he stated. "I'm a worker and I'm going to work. I'm going to get good at what I do. I want to get good at jiu-jitsu, get good at striking, and I'm going to go in there prepared."

The Olympian stated in the interview that he's a fan of MMA fighters such as Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, and has seen the success of the past top wrestlers such as Matt Lindland and Josh Koscheck in MMA.

"Pretty much any high level wrestler that applies themselves to mixed martial arts does well in it," he commented. "I think you'd be hard pressed to find one that actually trained in mixed martial arts and didn't do well."

Just getting home from China a few days ago, Askren has thoughts of possibly competing in the Olympics again, while also mulling the decision to coach at his almamater or making the move to MMA. It's a decision he will make very soon.

"That's a decision I've got to make coming up really soon, maybe in the next couple weeks," he said. "There's a definite possibility I might just focus on MMA. I don't want to say 100 percent, but it's definitely a possibility."

Of course being an Olympic level wrestler, Askren also wants to fight the very best in the world if he does transition into MMA.

"I want to face tough opponents, I don't want to face 'cans', as they call them," he commented.

Askren's next move will be to attend the upcoming World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) event to take a look at high level MMA first hand. WEC 36 takes place on September 10 in Florida and features a main event title bout between the defending WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber and challenger Mike Brown.

The dream stand up match that MMA fans have been clamoring for will have to wait as a showdown between K-1 legends Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Jerome LeBanner has been postponed. Instead, Nokaut is reporting that Cro Cop will face Ralek Gracie in a special rules grappling match at DREAM.4.

The fight will be a two round grappling match under modified Abu Dhabi rules where there will not be a point system. If the fight goes the full ten minutes then it will be ruled an automatic draw. The only way to win would be by submission.

Many people were hoping to see a striking war between LeBanner and Cro Cop but for undisclosed reasons, the fight has been postponed. The first logical explanation would be an injury to LeBanner but we’ll have to wait until the details emerge.

The following is an excerpt from the latest blog entry by former PRIDE FC and UFC Heavyweight fighter Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic:

On the UFC
"Fighting in the cage just didn't feel good. The real problem was in me, not in the UFC or the cage. That wasn't who I am and I will return one day to fight in the cage. I owe this to all of my fans and especially my UK fans."

On Dana White
"I can perfectly understand a decreased interest in me after my bad performances. It's just business and you can't blame the UFC or Mr. White for putting me aside. I can only say that Mr. White acted very professional and I had no problem in getting released from my UFC contract. I also hope that we'll always respect each other and perhaps work together in the future."

On DREAM and the contract
"My dream has come true, I'll fight in Japan again. I've signed a three fight contract with a possibility of extension. It's where I had some memorable moments, where I feel at home. DREAM is a new organization with a good management and huge potential. Japan is a big market and these guys know how to bring something to a high level. I'll do my best to help them on that way."

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic will continue his career with the newest MMA promotion, DREAM. The ex-Croatian law enforcement officer, who turned into kickboxer before turned into mixed martial artist, participated in the DREAM media conference last week in Tokyo, Japan to announce his participation in the new promotion formed by FEG and former PRIDE executives.

Filipovic was only three fights into his six-fight contract with the UFC but the split was amicable. His contract contained a clause which allowed the contract to be void if he lost back-to-back fights in the Octagon. Both parties understood Filipovic could stand to benefit from taking fights outside UFC to build back some momentum.

Filipovic stated he would like to return to the UFC in the future in hopes of accomplishing last year's goal of winning the UFC heavyweight title.