[123], PRIDE 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix and comeback, Post-title shot and PRIDE 2006 Openweight Grand Prix, Retirement from MMA and return to kickboxing, Retirement from kickboxing and third stint in the UFC, Second retirement from MMA and anti-doping violation. [110][111], Aside from his kickboxing and mixed martial arts career, Cro Cop had a special appearance for professional wrestling promotion Hustle, which was owned by Dream Stage Entertainment along with Pride. It was four years before they fought again, the rematch turning out to be much more successful for Mirko, who knocked Wanderlei out with his trademark left high kick. Playerswiki This put him in the final against Josh Barnett, a fighter whom he would face for the third time in his career. His boxing record is 40-5 (amateur) and 12-5 (professional). All those reasons [have brought me] here, and I'm very happy that I'm going to fight here in Japan. ", "Fedor Emelianenko Post Pride Final Conflict Video Interview", "Cro Cops Biggest Wins and Toughest Losses", "Rudimar Fedrigo: "Wanderlei is talking about his next fight, "Cro Cop Talks About Offers From UFC & Pride", "UFC CONFIRMS CRO COP'S SIGNING; A LOOK AT TITLE PICTURES", "Mirko Cro Cop Training with Bonjasky, Yvel", "Marijan Zizanovic is the new head coach again", "Zbog "niskog" u genitalije poništena borba Cro Copa i Overeema", "CroCop Wanted to Continue; DREAM to Korea? Average betting for this fight was around -1200 for "Cro Cop" and +800 for Eddie Sanchez, the biggest gap for underdog/favorite in UFC history. Mirko Filipović is a Croatian heavyweight mixed martial artist, kickboxer, boxer, politician, and law enforcement officer. He also addressed his injury situation, saying, "I managed to repair my knee, I was among the first in Croatia to have the transplanted stem cells in my knee. Cro Cop starred in the 2005 action film Ultimate Force as Axon Rey. Cro Cop defeated Korean Hyun Man Myung in the first round via an arm-triangle choke in the opening round of the tournament. [14][15], In the first round, Cro Cop stunned and broke Emelianenko's nose with two quick straight left hands. Vinkovci, Croatia, Yugoslavia [now Croatia], View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro, Great Athletes, Stuntmen and Wrestler Actors, Martial Artists In Movies: The Real Deal - Volume 12 (All MMA Edition). Now I'm fully recovered, physically and mentally, most important mentally. [3] He defeated Jérôme Le Banner in his debut, but after losing to Ernesto Hoost in his next match, he turned his attention back to boxing and his law enforcement career. [43], During the fight, Cro Cop dominated for two rounds before opening a cut on Perosh's forehead which forced a doctor stoppage before the third round and awarded the TKO win to Cro Cop, who fought despite receiving a cut in training that required stitches. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic was born on September 10, 1974 in Vinkovci, Croatia, Yugoslavia. Cro Cop and his wife have two sons, Ivan and Filip. His K-1 kickboxing record is 16-7. The colonel told Filipović: I don't think you will be a special soldier, but I believe you will be a good fighter one day. On 29 December, Cro Cop won the bout via TKO in the second round. It was after these performances that he was drawn into the bracket of the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix. Lost to K-1 World Grand Prix champion Mark Hunt by split-decision at PRIDE Shockwave 2005. [50] Mirko defeated Ray Sefo by unanimous decision. His PRIDE record is 21-4-2. He had success in both areas as a three-time national amateur boxing champion and later joined the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit where he served for six years until he was elected to the Croatian Parliament. https://www.youtube.com/embed/cGWGXlx4qr8?start=52&end=55&version=3, "Mirko CroCop lastima a Kintaro Kanemura en Hustle", "PRIDE GP Total Elimination 2004 Preview", "Judo Chop: The Curious Case of Mirko 'Cro Cop' Filipovic", "UFC Macao Judo Chop: Cung Le and MMA's Best Kickers", "Demetrious Johnson on historic UFC 216 title defense: 'No one was going to take this away from me, "Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's wife Klaudija gave birth to their second son", "2. It was after this tournament that Cro Cop went on a seven fight win streak from 23 May 2004 until 26 June 2005. Now fighting exclusively in PRIDE, Cro Cop's 7th MMA fight was against former title challenger Heath Herring, who sported a 20–8 record and had gone the distance with current champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in addition to fighting soon-to-be champion Fedor Emelianenko, against whom he lost when the doctor had to stop the fight after the 1st round. "[40], He hired legendary former Muay Thai champion Ivan Hippolyte and revamped his whole training team. Cro Cop was scheduled to face Wanderlei Silva in a trilogy bout on 29 December in the Rizin Open Weight quarter finals. Other Works Cro Cop otvorio dušu: Stari Mirko 'umro' je s PRIDE-om! [116] Despite the relative predictability of his technique, Cro Cop was able to hit it consistently by speed and timing,[117] gaining 28 KO/TKO wins in his career, of which four were by head kick alone. There was some controversy, as Kongo landed 3 illegal groin strikes but was not even deducted a point. He has since been released from his UFC contract and has gone 2-0-0-1 in the Japanese MMA organization DREAM. He fought several times early in his career under the nickname "Tigar" (Croatian for "tiger"). He expressed frustration and quoted "I'm angry it ended this way, it seemed as if he was the dominant one, however, I wasn't in trouble for a second and was waiting for my opportunities. [12] The highly anticipated match between Emelianenko and Cro Cop finally took place at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005. The fight ended when Cro Cop finished al-Turk with a flurry of punches that left al-Turk unable to defend himself. [115], His persona has inspired many newer generation fighters, notably Demetrious Johnson, who once referred to Cro Cop after his record-breaking title defense, saying, "There was a long time ago in PRIDE: (Mirko) 'Cro-Cop' (Filipovic), it was his birthday, and he had that look on his face like nobody was going to take that championship away from him... That's how I felt (Saturday). [54][55] In the third round, after a break and restart, Cro Cop attempted to apologize for a late uppercut, failing to put his hands up to defend and leading to a straight punch by Blake that resulted in a knockdown. In a recent interview, White said: "This guy wants to fight again, and I owe him another fight." He did what he had to do. Cro Cop's signature move was his lightning-quick left high roundhouse kick, once famously described as "right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery. Wins Prague 1997 Kickboxing 8-man tournament, Cite error: The named reference "mixedmartialarts.com" was defined multiple times with different content (see the, CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, 2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion, 2016 Rizin Openweight Grand Prix Champion, PRIDE 2006 Openweight Grand Prix championship, K-1 World MAX 2012 World Championship Tournament Final 16, K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo Final 16, 2016 Rizin World Openweight Grand Prix Champion, 2006 Pride World Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion, "Mirko Cro Cop suffers stroke, announces retirement", "Normally reclusive, content 'Cro Cop' Filipovic finally opens up", http://amateur-boxing.strefa.pl/Championships/WorldChamps1997.html, "Mirko: Dovoljno sam lomio, tuđe i svoje kosti", "Cro Cop to Minotauro I will be looking forward to our rematch, but this time I will celebrate the victory", "PRIDE Final Conflict 2005 Results, Fight Card, News, Videos, Pictures, and more", "Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko MMA Stats, Pictures, News, Videos, Biography, and More", "Fedor Emelianenko the Best Fighter in the World? [41] Just days before the fight, Rothwell was forced to withdraw from the event because of an illness. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic was born on September 10, 1974 in Vinkovci, Croatia, Yugoslavia. [74] On 25 October 2013, it was reported that Emelianenko had been accused of assaulting a 63-year-old man in a bar. He was elected on a list for Social Democratic Party of Croatia from I electoral district. Before turning pro, he had accumulated an amateur boxing record of 48–8 (31 KO's). However, the 2-year suspension was not lifted, because he admitted to taking a prohibited substance.[99]. In February of 2007, he debuted in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), winning his first fight but then dropping back-to-back fights to finish out the year. I was waiting for this for 10 long years and finally - I knew that I'm the best, but some circumstances just didn't let me do that. He is an actor and producer, known for Ultimate Force (2005), UFC on Fox (2011) and Sekai fushigi hakken! Believe it or not, and I swear with everything I got, I told myself, "If I don't take this belt, it will be my last MMA fight in my life." He was elected by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia in the parliament of Croatia and served from 2003 to 2008. [citation needed], On 18 May, Cro Cop issued a press release on his official website and his MMAid account stating his scheduled return to the UFC. Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic Wiki Biography Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic was born on September 10, 1974 in Vinkovci, Croatia, Yugoslavia [now Croatia]. On 5 March 2018 it was announced that Cro Cop has signed with Bellator MMA. It was a miracle that I didn't start bleeding. His father, who worked as an electrician for a railway company, fashioned his son a crude but effective punching bag filled with sand and cotton, and would bring home track scraps for Mirko to use for weight training. He announced that he would return to kickboxing to fight at Cro Cop Final Fight 2012 at the Zagreb Arena on 10 March 2012. Official Sites. And that's why I said, "now or never". [70], On 8 August 2012 news came that Cro Cop had said that he would like to return to MMA,[71] and on December 31, 2012 he made his comeback against former sumo wrestler and MMA newcomer Shinichi Suzukawa at Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012 in Tokyo, Japan. [75] The fight organizer terminated the contract with Emelianenko and announced that Cro Cop would face a different opponent from Russia. After being knocked down twice to the canvas in the first round by Barry's strikes, he won the second round after utilizing his ground game. I would like to know how he is, and I would like to shake hands with him. "But I don't think he's in one of these situations like Chuck Liddell, who needed to retire right then. [33], On 23 September 2008, Cro Cop fought against Alistair Overeem at Dream 6. Former boxer, former kickboxer, and current mixed martial artist. [105] Cro Cop won the fight via TKO early into the first round. [96] On 25 November, Cro Cop was suspended for two years by USADA retroactive to 9 November 2015. It's much easier to do it at the beginning of your career. [84] Cro Cop defeated Ishii via TKO, landing a head kick and follow up punches just as the second round was coming to a close. A martial arts enthusiast since his youth, Filipović started his professional career in 1996 as a kickboxer, following in the footsteps of his compatriot Branko Cikatić. In what was seen as the biggest upset in recent history at the time, Cro Cop was KO'd by former UFC Heavyweight Champion Kevin Randleman at 1:57 of the very first round, being eliminated in the opening round of the tournament where he was favored to be a finalist or even win it all.[12]. He is an actor and producer, known for UFC 70: Nations Collide (2007), UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion (2007) and UFC 67: All or Nothing (2007). The couple is blessed with two sons named Ivan and Filip Filipovic.