Recently in Cro Cop Category

Thanks to Robert K. from BigOddsMike for the story, which he gleaned from Croatian site index.hr. Make sure to go there for all your UFC 100 odds.

After making a successful UFC comeback against Al Turk, Mirko Cro Cop's next fight will most likely be on September 19th , at UFC 103, in Dellas, Texas. Although we're still awaiting an official confirmation, Mirko's opponent will likely be 24-year Brazilian Junior Dos Santos.

The rising star exploded into the heavyweight division against former UFC contender Fabricio Werdum. The fight lasted only 81 seconds.

Dos Santos, known as "The Gypsy" in Brazil was set to fight in August, but UFC organizers cancelled the bout planned for UFC 102 in favor of a possible main event with the Croatian.

"I think I'll fight September 19. They took me off the August 29 show," he said, also announcing he will no longer be facing the same opponent. "My opponent's changed. I'll probably face Cro Cop. If I beat him I'll be in really good standing. If that's truly the case, I'm guaranteed on the main card and in the main event of the evening. If I were to fight now it wouldn't be on the main card," he said

After UFC 99, Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic drew the ire of the MMA community when he announced he was leaving the UFC, although it had been reported he was supposed to fight several more times there. Most speculated he was jumping back to DREAm, the Japanese promotion he had fought under after leaving the UFC the first time. here's an exclusive from Robert K from Big Odds Mike who translated an article from the Croatian site index.hr.

Exclusive UFC owner visiting Cro Cop in Croatia

Index understands that Lorenzo Fertitta, the head honcho and part owner of the UFC flew to Zagreb with his own private jet earlier this morning. He was driven to Mirko's residents shortly after, where he stayed for two hours talking with the Croatian fighter. He returned to the airport afterwards, smiling, where his private jet flew off in to an unknown destination.

by Kevin Iole, mmajunkie.com:
COLOGNE, Germany - Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic's return to the UFC was a short one.

Not long after stopping Mostapha Al-Turk in the first round of UFC 99 on Saturday at Lanxess Arena in his first fight in the UFC since back-to-back losses in 2007, Filipovic informed UFC president Dana White that he had signed a three-fight contract with the Japanese-based DREAM organization.

White had signed Filipovic less than a month ago to a one-fight deal, the first time in more than nine years that he'd done that. He had worked out terms on two additional fights, but said he'd only put pen to paper for Saturday's bout.

By GREG BEACHAM
AP Sports Writer

Mirko Filipovic joined the UFC two years ago amid more hype and expectation than perhaps any fighter in mixed martial arts history - and Cro Cop flopped.
After three desultory fights forced Filipovic into a yearlong retreat for mental adjustments and knee surgery, he returns to the octagon at UFC 99 on Saturday night in Cologne, Germany, against Mostapha Al Turk. The former anti-terrorist policeman in his native Croatia should have plenty of countrymen cheering the start of his second run toward the UFC heavyweight title.

from mirko's Web site:

These days the boys from Cro Cop team are training in full force. After a long break and highly demanding recovery process, Mirko Cro Cop is ready to fight in MMA again.

All problems with injuries are history and Cro Cop is very optimistic to start another chapter in his career:
"I feel great, the recovery process is going well and we train at high intensity now. I never had such a strong desire to prove myself and I'll climb up again, or die trying."

Mirko's next fight is set for June 13th in Germany, which means that he's back in the UFC, a place that he didn't have his best moments:
"I decided to fight in the UFC again, because of the stronger competition in the heavyweight division. My next opponent will be Mustapha Al-Turk. I didn't do well in my first three appearances - I wasn't myself. By returning to the cage I want to prove that I can still fight at highest level, no matter when or where," he said.

UFC 99 will be Cro Cop's first fight this year with the possibility of three fights coming by years end.
"It's hard to talk about concrete plans, but I would really like to fight at least three times this year. I wish to fight against quality opponents and to fight my way up to a title shot but for now, I'll focus only on my next fight and after that we'll see what's going to be on the menu next," says Cro Cop.
Although the UFC 99 card looks stacked, it seems that the UFC officials can see the benefits of hiring a top European fighter for their first ever UFC show in Germany.

"I want to say thank you Mr. Dana White for your interest and for an invitation back to the UFC. I owe you a lot from our first deal, and I'll make it up to you," promises Cro Cop.

All news related to Mirko Cro Cop's career are posted on Mirko's official MMA-ID profile on http://www.mma-id.com/CROCOP and Mirko's official homepage http://www.mirko-crocop.com.

Yours truly,
The CROCOP Team

Thanks to Robert K from www.betwwx.com for the translation:
"Cro Cop: I'll revenge Overeem in July"

Despite being out of the action for all of 2009, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic is getting more offers than ever before in his career.

A total of five MMA organizations (Two Japanese and three American) would like to see Cro Cop fight for them. Cro Cop, for now, is leaning towards Dream. He wants to return to the ring as soon as possible but all options remain on the table.

from Robert K of Internet sports betting blog betwwx.com:
Interviewer: How is your knee?
Cro Cop: Well every thing is all right. They didn't amputate my leg so I guess the operation was a success. (Joking) I'm satisfied with the recovery. Its getting better every day. I'm doing some light work.

Interviewer: You're doing some weight work/upper body work at the moment?
Cro Cop: That's right. I'm mostly working from my back. I cant use my legs. I plan to start boxing in April.

I was better prepared than your average knee reconstruction patient. I was putting off the operation for quite some time and in the mean time was doing the required exercise for recovery. So my comeback will be ahead of schedule. Six days after my operation I was already doing some exercises. I plan to be using both my hands and legs in sparring and ground work in May.

Interviewer: Where will you make your comeback?
There is a great possibility that I will be fighting for the UFC in Cologne, Germany. I don't know my opponent yet. But I'm very confident that we'll come to an agreement with the UFC and that I'll fight for them in June. There are other offers on the table also.

Interviewer: Do you have any idea as to who you'll face?
I've heard that I could be facing Randy Couture. That would a great. Then again its not up to me or him but management so we'll have to wait and see. But I'm sure he'd also be interested in that fight.

I'd most prefer to be a free agent and fight up to six times a year but that is unlikely.

Cro Cop's nemesis, Alistair Overeem, has undergone quite the transformation since his days in PRIDE. Robert K at freefightvideos set up this timeline:

You probably can't see it too well, but this time line goes from 2003 to 2008.

Overeem, although he is 6'5", used to fight at 205. Apparently, he weighed in at 250+ for his Dynamite!! fight with Badr Hari. That is a lot of weight to gain, without adding much in the way of fat, even for a professional fighter. It just makes me wonder if it will affect his cardio, which wasn't great to begin with. As far as I remember, his fights at HW have been short ones - what happens when someone takes him into "deep waters" as they say?