Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic
Record: 25-7-2 (Win-Loss-Draw)
19 (T)KO's
3 Submissions
3 Decisions


*Personal Opinion - His performance now isnt the best,but before couple years he was beast and he still is,still not the one he was His evasion is sick,he is very calm fighter,and his kicks,especially the left are lethal blows,his boxing skills are also superior.My favourite win of Crocop is aganist Wanderlei Silva,mega KO
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight 106 kg (230 lb; 16.7 s

Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic Highlights
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=na0Gucw1qK0][/youtube]

Mirko Filipović (born September 10, 1974), often billed as Mirko Cro Cop, is a former Croatian law enforcement officer turned kickboxer and mixed martial artist (MMA) currently fighting at heavyweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Filipović was a former member (2003 - 2007) of Croatian Parliament. His nickname, short for "Croatian Cop", comes from his membership in Croatia's most elite Anti-Terrorist Unit ATJ Lučko.

Filipović has been successful in both K-1 and Pride Fighting Championships. On September 10, 2006, he won the Pride 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix, and in 2007 began fighting in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Filipović is famous for his left high kicks, with which he has knocked out many of his opponents.

Professional career

Filipović started his professional career in 1996 as a kickboxer, following in the footsteps of his compatriot Branko Cikatić. Before turning pro Filipović was said to have accumulated an amateur boxing record of 40-5 (31 KO's).[2] At the time, Filipović was working as a commando in the Croatian police anti-terrorist unit Alpha (stationed in Lučko 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").[citation needed] His entrance theme song is The Wild Boys by Duran Duran.

K-1

In 1996, at the age of 22, Filipović entered the K-1 World Grand Prix elimination tournament. After defeating the previous year's finalist, Jérôme Le Banner, Filipović 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 dropped a decision against Swiss fighter, Xhavit Bajrami. Despite this, Filipović was given a wildcard into the world tournament where he shocked the kickboxing world by defeating highly regarded K-1 fighter Mike Bernardo. Filipović went on to knock out Japanese star Musashi and Australian karate fighter Sam Greco on the same night before being stopped again by Hoost.

Filipović 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 beat then-undefeated giant, "The Beast" Bob Sapp in 86 seconds, breaking Sapp's orbital bone with a left punch. 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 were the major factors in this loss. Filipović actually entered the ring limping on one leg due to injuries sustained in previous bouts. Bernardo repeatedly attacked Filipović's damaged leg and rendered him 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 defeated by Canadian fighter Michael McDonald in the first round. Shortly thereafter, he began a transition to Pride, a Japanese mixed martial arts organization. He fought four more K-1 matches, however, winning each.

Pride FC

In 2001, Filipović 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.[citation needed] Since then, Filipović 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 (second round TKO), and Bob Sapp in April 2003 (first round KO).

Following a TKO win over Kazuyuki Fujita in his MMA debut, "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. Neither fighter was able to stop the other.

Filipović's next Pride fight was against then-middleweight (205 lb) champion Wanderlei Silva. This bout featured the same rules as the Takada fight, and also ended in a draw. On August 28, 2002 "Cro Cop" faced Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba at Pride Shockwave 2002. Filipović won after fracturing Sakuraba's orbital bone.

His next fight was a rematch with Fujita at the Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002 event where he picked up his fourth victory, this time by decision.

"Cro Cop" returned to Pride to face heavyweight contender Heath Herring at Pride 26 (June 8, 2003). Filipović defeated Herring decisively, scoring a TKO victory only 3:17 into the fight. His next fight was against Ukrainian striker Igor Vovchanchyn at Pride Total Elimination 2003. Following powerful kicks in the Herring fight, this fight continued to showcase Filipović's kicking power as he knocked out Vovchanchyn with a head kick 1:29 into the fight. "Cro Cop" then defeated Mexican professional wrestler Dos Caras Jr. at Pride Bushido 1 with a head kick knockout in only 46 seconds.

Filipović's string of Pride wins secured him a chance to fight for the interim heavyweight championship against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira on November 9, 2003. Filipović'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 Filipović to submit to an armbar after being mounted. Filipović admitted to Bas Rutten in a later interview that he was overconfident against Nogueira.

In 2004 Filipović 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. He went on to win his next two bouts by KO and TKO at a combined time of only 3:49.

"Cro Cop" then participated in Pride's Heavyweight Grand Prix. In a shocking upset Filipović was knocked out in the first round by Kevin Randleman. Filipović later made up for this loss by submitting Randleman in a rematch at the end of 2004.

Filipović repeatedly requested Pride let him challenge the heavyweight champion, Fedor Emelianenko. After winning seven straight matches since his defeat by Randleman, including a knockout victory against Aleksander Emelianenko (the 6'6", 255 lb (116 kg) brother of the champion) and wins over Josh Barnett, Mark Coleman, and Ibragim Magomedov, Filipović received a chance to fight Emelianenko for the title on August 28, 2005 at Pride Final Conflict 2005. After three rounds, Emelianenko won by unanimous decision and retained his title. Filipović later stated on Croatian national television that he came exhausted to the match, mostly because he was not used to the time difference in Japan and he had sleeping problems. He also said many times after the match that he fought too defensively and cautiously. The champion, likewise, was not in his top form. According to Emelianenko he "could not take full advantage of right hand during the striking exchanges and had to try to close the distance," due to a previous hand injury.

On October 23, 2005, less than two months after the loss to Emelianenko, Filipović stepped back into the ring to rematch open-weight King of Pancrase Josh Barnett. After three rounds Filipović received a unanimous judges' decision victory.

On December 31, 2005, Filipović lost his match against Mark Hunt via split decision. Hunt was the more aggressive fighter, an important criterion in Pride judging. Quite unusually, "Cro Cop" was wearing shoes for this fight, something that had no precedent. This had led to speculation and statements from his camp about Filipović having sustained injuries to his feet before the fight. Filipović himself has never confirmed these speculations. Filipović also 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.

Filipović re-entered the Pride ring, competing in Pride's 2006 Open-Weight Grand Prix on May 5, 2006. His first match at the Pride Total Elimination Absolute event was against Ikuhisa Minowa, the lighter but highly acclaimed professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. "Cro Cop" won the fight by TKO in 1:10 of the fight. On July 1, 2006 at Pride Critical Countdown Absolute, Filipović defeated 1992 Olympic judo gold medalist Hidehiko Yoshida to move on to the semi-finals.

On September 10, 2006, Filipović won the Open-Weight Grand Prix at Pride Final Conflict Absolute. In the semi-finals, Filipović knocked out then-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 victories, Filipović became Pride's Open-Weight Grand Prix champion, the first widely recognized championship belt he has ever won. In a post-fight interview Filipović stated if he had not won the tournament, it would have been his last night fighting. It was also his birthday.

After his victory at the Open-Weight Grand Prix, a rematch between Filipović and Fedor Emelianenko failed to materialize and on December 12, 2006 Filipović pulled out of the New Year's Eve event, citing both a foot injury and Emelianenko's commitment to meet Mark Hunt at the card in question. Through his official website, Filipović 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."[3] Also in December 2006, rumors began to surface about Filipović entertaining offers from other mixed martial arts organizations; the Ultimate Fighting Championship was one of the promotions that Filipović confirmed came forward with an offer.[4] Rumors continued to circulate about Filipović's future with the Pride FC organization and soon media websites were reporting that Filipović had chosen the UFC for his future.[5]

UFC president Dana White and the UFC officially announced on December 30, 2006 during the post-UFC 66 press conference, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, that Filipović had signed a two-year, six-fight deal with the Las Vegas-based mixed martial arts promoter. It was also announced that Filipović would 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" alternatively with and without quotation marks. Filipović defeated Sanchez in the first round via TKO.

On April 21, 2007, Filipović 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. Crocop has stated since that the elbows on the ground confused and damaged him enough that he was disoriented after the stand up, contributing to the subsequent knock-out. During the fall to the canvas, Filipović suffered a minor injury to his ankle.

Filipović's fight on September 8, 2007 at UFC 75 against French kickboxer Cheick Kongo where he lost via unanimous decision. In a post-fight interview upon his return home, Mirko stated that he cracked a rib during the fight and that the two illegal kicks in the groin
he received also cost him some strength. Had Kongo lost a point for the illegal knees the fight would have been a draw. Cro Cop trained with Remy Bonjasky and Gilbert Yvel, and 2003 Abu Dhabi Combat Club champion grappler Dean Lister for this fight. Lister joined Cro Cop at his home town for a month to train for this upcoming bout. Filipović's coach was Vos Gym's main trainer and muay thai practitioner Ivan "Hydro" Hippolyte. According to his home page, Marijan Žižanović is the new head coach again, since October 01, 2007. Žižanović was his K-1 trainer.

On May 18 Filipović issued a press release on his official website and his MMAid account stating that he is scheduled to return to the UFC. His first match upon returning was at UFC 99 in Germany against Mostapha Al-turk which he won by TKO in the first round due to stikes. There was controversy surrounding the fight given the manner it finished in, as Cro Cop unintentionally poked Al-Turk in the eye and the referee (indeed Cro Cop as well) failed to see this.

After the one-fight agreement with the UFC, it was announced Filipović was scheduled to return to Dream to face Siala "Mighty Mo" Siliga on July 20 at Dream.10. On July 3, 2009 however, it was reported that he might have re-signed with the UFC after getting an offer "he couldn't refuse" by UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta who personally flew to Filipović's residence in Zagreb. It was later confirmed at the UFC Fan Expo by Fertitta that Mirko had indeed signed a three fight contract with the UFC. Reportedly Mirko will face Junior dos Santos at UFC 103.

Great as a Kickboxer, tends to be highly overrated as a Mixed Martial Artist.

It's insane how many people actually believe he'd stand a chance against Brock Lesnar, even though Alistair Overeem destroyed him at DREAM.6.

Mirco has nothing to do now with old Mirco.As MMA fighter he aint much,as kickboxer he is great.He got sick several times and he should've quit fighting and he made mistake going to the MMA.As for Brock Lesnar he is a roid piece of ..

Please use Mirko in the title as that is his name

I think that after MMA we could see him back in K-1 and since there is no Ernesto Hoost he might actually win something there.
I think his downfall started after Minotauro match when he started working on BJJ. He stopped using his kicks as he probably wanted to prove that he can fight on the floor.

IMO he has a chance with everyone if he kicks them in the liver or in the head. Simple as that

Thank you for your post, I hope you dont mind me colouring up a little and yeah I changed the c to a k so the mizantrop wont wine about it

good work guys

A lot of you chalk up CroCop to having a chance "to beat anyone with a kick," but forget that, this isn't kickboxing. If someone takes Mirko down, it won't be good for him, and will likely be over.

As far as standing goes, Mirko only has a chance when he's not being overwhelmed and/or hit first. I guarantee that Junior dos Santos will knock his block off at UFC 103, because Junior is a headhunter, and CroCop still looks timid in the Octagon.

I think where Mirko's ground game isn't great, it is underrated. He's always exciting to watch, mainly because he kicks people in the face!

So, what excuses do you guys have ready, once dos Santos steam rolls CroCop?

"If this was OWGP 06 CroCop..." doesn't count

I agree with painday, like all the others strikers, his fights are exciting to watch....crocop is a great guy, has nice legs kicks....but isnt a great fighter, looking back at OWGP 06....he picks only easy fights and has one luck kick in w.silva.

I think he will lose, but will be a great show, UFC makes a great shot when contract him, now i want to see jacare, mousasi and arona in UFC. =D