Mirko Cro Cop (full name: Mirko Filipović, known by the nickname Mirko Cro Cop), is a Croatian mixed martial artist, former kickboxer and amateur boxer. He currently competes in Bellator as part of their Heavyweight division and is best known for his time in the Pride Fighting Championships. Cro Cop also fought for the UFC and RIZIN .

Cro Cop is the 2006 Pride Grand Prix Openweight Champion, 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion and 2016 Rizin Grand Prix Openweight Champion, becoming the second fighter in the world to win championships and mixed martial arts and kickboxing tournaments. He is also a former IGF Champion. His nickname, Cro Cop, short for “Croatian Cop”, comes from his membership in the Lučko Counter-Terrorist Unit, the elite tactical special forces unit of the Croatian police.

Cro Cop’s signature move was his lightning-fast high left kick, once described as “right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery. He was a successful amateur boxer and won numerous medals in international competitions, and was also a member of Croatia’s World Team when he competed in the 1997 World Amateur Boxing Championships.

From December 23, 2003 to January 11, 2008 he was a member of the Croatian Parliament for the first electoral constituency. He was elected independent candidate on the list of the Soc

MIRKO CRO COP AGE

Mirko is 44 years old in 2018. He was born on September 10, 1974 in Vinkovci, Croatia.

IMAGE BY MIRKO CRO COP

Photo by Mirko Cro Cop

MIRKO CRO COP WIFE

Talking about his personal life, he is a married family man. He married his wife, Klaudija Filipovic on October 12, 2002.
The couple are blessed with two sons named Ivan and Filip Filipovic. Her first son, Ivan, was born on March 7, 2003 while the second, Filip, was born on November 22, 2010.

He was elected by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia to the Croatian parliament and served from 2003 to 2008.

The couple are living a very happy life with their children with no news or rumors of divorce and extramarital affair.

MIKO CRO COP NET WORTH AND EARNINGS

As of 2019, Cop’s net worth was over $5.5 million. However, in 2015, his net worth was $6.7 million with an annual profit of $1,915,000. His career earnings are in the millions.

Due to his remarkable and successful career in MMA, he is one of the top athletes in the MMA circuit and has amassed a lot of fortune.

MIKO CRO COP HEIGHT AND WEIGHT

Cro Cop is 187 cm (6 ft 2 in) tall and weighs 99 kg (220 lb).

MIRKO CRO COP RETURN TO UFC

On May 18, Cro Cop posted a press release on his official website and MMAid account stating his scheduled return to the UFC. His first match on his return was at UFC 99 in Germany against Mostapha al-Turk. During the fight, Cro Cop knocked al-Turk down with punches in the first round and then allowed him to get up. The fight ended when Cro Cop finished al-Turk with a flurry of punches that left al-Turk unable to defend himself. After the deal was agreed to a fight with the UFC, it was announced that Cro Cop was set to return to Dream to face Siala “Mighty Mo” Siliga on July 20 at Dream.10. On July 3, 2009, it was reported that he might have re-signed with the UFC after receiving a “he couldn’t refuse” offer from UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who personally flew to the residence of Cro Cop in Zagreb. It was later confirmed at the UFC Fan Expo by Fertitta that Cro Cop had indeed signed a three-fight contract with the UFC.

Cro Cop fought and came to see forward Junior dos Santos at UFC 103. In the third round, Cro Cop suffered an uppercut to his left eye which caused him to submit waving his hand at referee and motioning that there was a problem with his left eye. eye. The fight was officially called off due to the submission, giving Dos Santos the win. After the fight, Cro Cop showed signs of frustration, stating, “I don’t feel hungry anymore. I started to play it safe, I’m not ready to take risks. ‘

He hired legendary former Muay Thai champion Ivan Hippolyte and revamped his entire training squad. Cro Cop was scheduled to face Ben Rothwell on February 21, 2010, at UFC 110. Days before the fight, Rothwell was forced to pull out of the event due to illness. Australian fighter Anthony Perosh has stepped in to replace Rothwell.

During the fight, Cro Cop dominated for two rounds before opening a cut on Perosh’s forehead that forced a doctor to stop before the third round and awarded the TKO victory to Cro Cop, who fought despite a cut in training that required stitches.

Cro Cop next fought fellow former Kickboxer Pat Barry at UFC 115 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. After being knocked down to the canvas twice in the first round by Barry’s strikes, he won the second round after using his ground game. Round three saw Cro Cop open up with a kick to the head followed by a chop to Barry’s head. He finished the fight with a strong flurry, dropping Barry against the cage where he continued his assault with numerous punches to the face. He then took the back and defeated Barry with a rear choke, earning him Submission of the Night honors that Cro Cop had joked to Dana White and the crowd sooner than he deserved. Before the fight against Barry, Cro Cop was arrested by Canadian officials, who threatened to deport him. He revealed that Canadian officials had asked for details of his activities in Lučko’s ATJ which he had several years after the Croatian War of Independence. He was detained for six hours.

Cro Cop faced former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir on September 25, 2010 at UFC 119, replacing the injured Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. There was a brief scare the weekend before the fight when Cro Cop suffered an eye injury in Croatia on his last day of training, but upon arriving in the United States he was medically cleared to compete.

Neither fighter was able to inflict significant damage on the other until Cro Cop was defeated by Mir at 4:02 of round three by knockout due to a knee to the head. In a later interview for a Croatian TV channel, Cro Cop said he suffered from a herniated disc three weeks before the fight with Mir. He decided not to tell the UFC about this injury because he thought it looked like he was trying to pull out of the fight.

Cro Cop was defeated by Ultimate Fighter alumnus Brendan Schaub on March 19, 2011 at UFC 128: Shogun vs. Jones by knockout at 3:44 of the third round. Shortly after the knockout loss to Schaub, Dana White said Cro Cop is likely retiring. Since that time, Dana White seems to have changed her mind. In a recent interview, White said: ‘This guy wants to fight again, and I owe him another fight.’ White also added: “Do I think he should have retired? Yeah,” White said. “But I don’t think he’s in one of those situations like Chuck Liddell, who needed to retire immediately. He’s a man, a grown man, and if he wants to keep fighting, that’s his right. ‘

In his last fight with the UFC, Cro Cop was defeated by Roy Nelson at UFC 137 by TKO due to punches in round 3. Although he appeared to be in good physical condition for the fight, he still didn’t look like the same fighter from his PRIDE FC days. In an interview with a Croatian TV channel, Cro Cop revealed that he suffered an arm injury in training 10 days before the fight. Cro Cop said the injury was the result of his fight with Pat Barry and that doctors told him he needed surgery because a tendon had separated from a bone, but he refused. He decided to continue the fight without telling UFC officials about his injury.

MIRKO CRO COP MMA

Although he hasn’t fully retired, Cro Cop considered his days with the UFC, and possibly MMA, to be over. He announced that he would return to kickboxing to fight at Cro Cop Final Fight 2012 at Zagreb Arena on March 10, 2012. Mirko defeated Ray Sefo via unanimous decision.

Cro Cop fought on May 27, 2012 at the K-1 World MAX 2012 World Championship Tournament Final 16 in Madrid, Spain against Loren Javier Jorge, winning by knockout in the second round with a left uppercut.

He faced Randy Blake at K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo Final 16 on October 14, 2012. In the third round, after a break and a restart, Cro Cop attempted to apologize for a late uppercut, failing to put his hands defending and leading to a straight punch by Blake which resulted in a knockdown. Despite this incident, Cro Cop was able to defeat the American en route to a majority decision victory.

He was scheduled to fight at Cro Cop Final Fight 2013 on March 15, 2013 in Zagreb and expressed his desire to face Gökhan Saki. The event was later merged with the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 Finals and was the first K-1 World Grand Prix held outside of Japan. He faced American boxer Jarrell Miller in the quarterfinals where the judging panel awarded Cro Cop a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28 and 30-27) due to Cro Cop landing more strikes. important. He advanced to the semi-finals where he edged out Pavel Zhuravlev to another unanimous decision. In the final, he fought Ismael Londt and knocked down the Suriname fighter with his patented high left kick in the second round en route to another unanimous decision win to win the tournament,

He lost to Remy Bonjasky by a widely disputed majority decision in a rematch at Glory 14: Zagreb in Zagreb on March 8, 2014. He was set to take on Pat Barry again at Glory 17: Los Angeles in Inglewood, California on June 21 2014, but Barry pulled out of the fight for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Sergei Kharitonov. However, Kharitonov also withdrew and was replaced by Jarrell Miller. Cro Cop won the rematch, against Jarrell Miller, by unanimous decision.