Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, a new addition to UFC's Heavyweight Division, is renowned in mixed martial arts for his striking ability.
Wikipedia Information Filipovi? started his professional career in 1996 as a kickboxer, following the footsteps of his compatriot Branko Cikati?. At the time, Filipovi? was working as a commando in the Croatian police anti-terrorist unit Alpha (stationed in Lu?ko near Zagreb), which earned him his nickname Cro Cop. He also fought several times early in his career under the nickname Tigar (Croatian for "tiger").
K-1 In 1996, at the age of 21, Filipovi? entered the K-1 Grand Prix elimination tournament. After defeating the previous year's finalist, Jérôme Le Banner, Filipovi? was stopped in the next round by Ernesto Hoost. He returned to K-1 three years later in 1999, knocking out British fighter, Ricky "Tank" Nicholson, but subsequently dropping a decision against Swiss fighter, Xhavit Bajrami. Despite this, Filipovi? was given a wildcard into the world tournament where he shocked the kickboxing world by destroying highly regarded K-1 fighter Mike Bernardo in what many K-1 fans regard as one of the biggest upset victories in K-1 history. Filipovi? then went on to knock out Japanese star Musashi and Australian karate fighter Sam Greco on the same night before being stopped again by Hoost.
Filipovi? continued to have successes in K-1, winning a number of matches against such top ranked opponents as Peter Aerts, Mark Hunt, and Remy Bonjasky. He was the first fighter to KO then-undefeated giant, "The Beast" Bob Sapp in 86 seconds. In 2000 he beat karate fighter Glaube Feitosa and boxer Hiromi Amada to reach the finals of the Nagoya Grand Prix, losing by first-round TKO to Mike Bernardo in a rematch. Once again, previously acquired injuries was the major factor in this loss. Mirko actually entered the ring limping on one leg due to injuries sustained in previous bouts. Bernardo repeatedly attacked Mirko's damaged leg and rendered the Croatian unable to continue due to injuries. Mirko however gained tremendous respect among Japanese fight enthusiasts for his courage and heart. As a finalist he progressed to the final eight for the 2000 Grand Prix, but once again dropped a decision to his nemesis Hoost. In 2001 he was unexpectedly knocked out by Canadian fighter Michael McDonald in the first round. Shortly thereafter, he switched to Pride FC.
PRIDE FC In 2001, Filipovi? began his switch to fighting in PRIDE, citing personal challenge, as well as dissatisfaction with K-1 salaries. A year later, he also left his job at the anti-terrorist unit in order to focus fully on his martial arts career. Since then, Filipovi? maintained a comparably low kickboxing profile, but nevertheless scored some impressive K-1 victories, most notably against Mark Hunt in March 2002 (unanimous decision), Remy Bonjasky in July 2002 (2nd round TKO), and Bob Sapp in April 2003 (1st round KO).
CroCop's string of PRIDE wins secured him a chance to fight for the interim heavyweight champion title against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in November 2003. Filipovi?'s stand-up fighting proved effective in the first round, controlling the fight from his feet. However, Nogueira prevailed in the second round after a successful takedown, forcing Filipovi? to submit to an armbar after being mounted. Filipovi? admitted to Bas Rutten in a later interview that he was overconfident against Nogueira.
In 2004, Filipovi? put his K-1 career on hold, and recruited Fabricio Werdum (a former world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) as his coach, working on improving his ground fighting skills. At the PRIDE GP heavyweight tournament in 2004, he was knocked out in a shocking upset defeat by Kevin Randleman. Filipovi? later made up for this loss by submitting Randleman in a rematch at the end of 2004.
Filipovi? repeatedly requested PRIDE to let him challenge the heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko. After winning six straight matches since his defeat by Randleman, including a knock-out victory against Aleksander Emelianenko (the 6'6", 255 lb brother of the champion), Filipovi? received a chance to fight Emelianenko for the title on August 28, 2005 at Pride's Final Conflict 2005 event. After three rounds, Emelianenko won by unanimous decision and retained his title. Emelianenko, considered by many to be the best MMA fighter the world has ever seen, admitted Filipovi? to be his toughest opponent to date. Filipovi? later said on Croatian national television that he came very exhausted to the match, mostly because he couldn't get used to the time difference in Japan and sleeping problems he had. The champion, likewise, was not in his top form. According to Fedor’s official website he was to begin preparations for surgery to reset bones in his previously hurt right hand the morning after the title fight with Mirko. According to Fedor he “could not take full advantage of right hand during the striking exchanges and had to try to close the distance”.
On October 23, 2005, less than two months after the loss to Emelianenko, Mirko stepped back into the ring to rematch open weight King of Pancrase Josh Barnett (at an event fittingly named 'Starting Over'). After three rounds, Filipovi? received a unanimous judges' decision victory.
On December 31, 2005, Filipovi? lost his match against Mark Hunt via split decision. Hunt was the more aggressive fighter, an important criterion in Pride judging. Quite unusually Mirko was wearing shoes for this fight, something that had no precedent. This had led to speculation and statements from his camp about Mirko having sustained injuries to his feet before the fight. Filipovi? himself has never confirmed these speculations. Also, Mirko had displayed considerable problems with his cardio during his fights with Emelianenko, Barnett and Hunt leading to the speculation that he was much too active and a resting period from the ring would work to his advantage. Filipovi? re-entered the PRIDE FC ring competing in PRIDE's 2006 Open Weight tournament on May 5, 2006. His first match at the Total Elimination Absolute event was against Ikuhisa Minowa, the lighter but highly acclaimed pro-wrestler and Mixed Martial Artist. Mirko won the fight with devastating punches and ground and pound resulting in a TKO victory in 1 minute 10 seconds of the 1st round. On July 1, 2006 at the Critical Countdown Absolute event Mirko defeated 1992 Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida when the judoka submitted after a series of brutal leg kicks left him unable to stand. On September 10, 2006, Filipovi? won the Open Weight Grand Prix at PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute. In the semi-finals, Filipovi? knocked out the PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva with his trademark left high kick.In the final match, Cro Cop won a third victory over Josh Barnett, who submitted after sustaining an eye injury. With these two overwhelming victories, Filipovi? became PRIDE's Open-Weight Grand Prix champion, the first widely recognized championship belt he has ever won. In a post-fight interview Mirko stated if he had not won the tournament, it would have been his last night fighting. It was also his birthday.
Move to UFC After his victory at the OWGP, a rematch between Filipovi? and Fedor Emelianenko was tentatively scheduled for New Year's Eve. However, on December 12, 2006 Filipovi? pulled out of the event, citing both a foot injury and Emelianenko's commitment to meet Mark Hunt at the card in question. Through his official website, Mirko revealed, "I still can't kick like I want to. It's the best that we give more time to this injury to heal. I want to be in perfect shape for my next fights."
Also in December 2006, rumors began surface about Filipovi? entertaining offers from other mixed martial arts organizations; the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was one of the promotions that Filipovi? confirmed came forward with an offer. Rumors continued to circulate about Filipovi?'s future with the PRIDE FC organization, and soon, media websites were reporting that Filipovi? had chosen the UFC for his future.
UFC president Dana White and the UFC officially announced Saturday night during the post-Liddell-Ortiz II pay-per-view press conference at the MGM Grand Garden Arena that "Cro Cop" had signed a two-year, six fight deal with the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts promoter.
Mirko Filipovic will make his American fighting debut February 3rd at UFC 67 in Las Vegas against Eddie Sanchez. He won that fight via TKO in round one.
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