Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic: A True MMA Legend

Mirko Filipovic was born in Croatia on September 10, 1974. Filipovic started his professional fighting career in 1996 as a kickboxer, following in the footsteps of his compatriot Branko Cikatic. Before turning pro Filipovic was said to have accumulated an amateur kickboxing record of 40-5 (31 KO’s). The kickboxer turned mixed martial artist was nicknamed "Cro Cop" because of his time as a Croatian police officer in the anti-terrorism unit. His career began in K-1 kickboxing where Cro Cop scored a number of impressive knockouts. Mirko's MMA debut came with a TKO win over Kazuyuki Fujita; “Cro Cop” then made his Pride debut at Pride 17 against Nobuhiko Takada. The bout featured a special rule stating if it went to a decision it would be ruled a draw. Cro Cop would bounce back and forth between Pride and K-1 but after putting together a four fight Pride win-streak Cro Cop earned his first title shot in 2003 at Pride: Final Conflict against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira but he lost by submission due to armbar. On September 10, 2006, Filipovic won the Open-Weight Grand Prix at Pride Final Conflict Absolute. In the semi-finals, Filipovic knocked out then-Pride middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva with his trademark left high kick in the final match. Filipovic is famous for his head kicks. He has been famously quoted as describing his kicks as, "Right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery.

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When Mirko moved from Pride to the Ultimate Fighting Championship he was referred to as one of the most dangerous strikers in the sport. Filipovic would sign a six fight contract and make his UFC debut on February 3, 2007 at UFC 67 in Las Vegas against Eddie Sanchez, promoting him under the name Mirko Cro Cop. Filipovic defeated Sanchez in the first round via TKO. On April 21, 2007, Filipovic faced Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC 70 in Manchester, England. At 4:51 of round one, Gonzaga won with a head kick knockout of his own.

On February 12, 2008, after only after three fights down on his UFC contract Filipovic, announced on his blog that he was leaving the UFC to join Dream a Japanese based MMA company that was co-established by FEG running K-1 Hero’s and the former Yarennoka! Organizing committee members which had managed Pride FC. At the time Cro Cop said he fully intended to return the UFC to finish the remainder of his contract in the future.

On March 15, 2008 he defeated Tatsuya Mizuno by TKO in the 1st round at Dream 1. Filipovic was scheduled to fight at Dream 5 but the bout had to be rescheduled due to an elbow injury he had suffered which would require surgery.

On May 18 2009 Filipovic announced he was to return to the UFC at UFC 99 in Germany against Mostapha Al-turk which he won by TKO in the first round due to strikes. After the one fight return Cro Cop returned to Dream to take part in Dream 10 however after UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta who personally flew to Filipovic’s residence in Zagreb it was announced that Filipovic would remain in the UFC with a new three fight contract. In his last six fights Cro Cop would hold a two win and four loss record with his most recent loss to Roy Nelson at UFC 137. Following the fight Cro Cop announced his retirement from MMA. In the post fight interview, Cro Cop confirmed to Joe Rogan what had been discussed all week - that this was his final fight. He also stated that he didn't want to go out with a loss, and apologized to fans.

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By Geoff Peacock
ProFighting-fans.com Senior MMA Staff Writer