Mirko Cro Cop Biography | Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic
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 mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro Cop has also fought for the UFC and RIZIN.
Cro Cop is the 2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion, the 2012 K-1 World Grand Prix Champion and the 2016 Rizin Openweight Grand Prix Champion becoming the second fighter in the world to win mixed martial arts and kickboxing championships and tournaments. He is also a former IGF Champion. His nickname, Cro Cop, short for “Croatian Cop”, comes from his membership in the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit, Croatia’s elite Police Special Forces tactical unit.
Cro Cop’s signature move was his lightning-quick left high kick, once famously described as “right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery.” He was a successful amateur boxer and medalled numerous times in international competition, and was also a member of Croatia’s world team when he competed at the 1997 Amateur Boxing World Championships.
From 23 December 2003 until 11 January 2008 he served as a Member of the Croatian Parliament for the 1st electoral district. He was elected as an independent candidate on the list of the Soc
Mirko Cro Cop Age
Mirko is 44 years old as of 2018. He was born on 10 September 1974, Vinkovci, Croatia.
Mirko Cro Cop Image
Mirko Cro Cop Photo
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 is blessed with two sons named Ivan and Filip Filipovic. His first son Ivan was born on 7 March 2003 while the second one, Filip was born on Nov. 22, 2010.
He was elected by the Social Democratic Party of Croatia in the parliament of Croatia and served from 2003 to 2008.
The couple is living a very happy life with their children without any news or rumors of divorce and an extramarital affair.
Miko Cro Cop’s Net worth and Earnings
As of 2019, Cop’s net worth is reported over $5.5 million However, back in 2015, his net worth was reported $6.7 million with annual earnings of $1,915,000. His career earnings are in millions.
Due to his remarkable and successful MMA career, he is one of the top athletes in the MMA circuit and has amassed a great deal of fortune.
Miko Cro Cop Height And Weight
Cro Cop stands at the height of 6′ 2″ (187 cm) and weighs 220 lb (99 kg).
Mirko Cro Cop Return to the UFC
On 18 May, Cro Cop issued a press release on his official website and his MMAid account stating his scheduled return to the UFC. His first match upon returning was at UFC 99 in Germany against Mostapha al-Turk. During the bout, Cro Cop knocked down al-Turk with punches within the first round, then allowed him to stand. The fight ended when Cro Cop finished al-Turk with a flurry of punches that left al-Turk unable to defend himself. After the one-fight agreement with the UFC, it was announced Cro Cop was scheduled to return to Dream to face Siala “Mighty Mo” Siliga on 20 July at Dream.10. On 3 July 2009, 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 Cro Cop’s residence 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 up and coming to striker Junior dos Santos at UFC 103. During the third round, Cro Cop sustained an uppercut to his left eye that caused him to submit by waving his hand at the referee and motioning that there was a problem with his eye. The fight was officially stopped due to submission, giving Dos Santos the win. After the fight, Cro Cop showed signs of frustration, stating, “I don’t feel the hunger anymore. I started playing it safe, I’m not ready to take risks.”
He hired legendary former Muay Thai champion Ivan Hippolyte and revamped his whole training team. Cro Cop was scheduled to face Ben Rothwell on February 21, 2010, at UFC 110. Just days before the fight, Rothwell was forced to withdraw from the event because of an illness. Australian fighter Anthony Perosh stepped in to replace Rothwell.
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.
Cro Cop next fought against fellow former Kickboxer Pat Barry at UFC 115 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. 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. The third round saw Cro Cop open up with a head kick followed by an ax kick to Barry’s head. He ended 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 his back and defeated Barry by rear naked choke, earning him Submission of the Night honors which Cro Cop had joked to Dana White and the crowd earlier that he deserved it. Prior to the Barry fight, Cro Cop was detained by Canadian officials, who threatened to deport him. He revealed that the Canadian officials had asked for details of his activities in the Lučko ATJ which he had several years after the Croatian War of Independence. He was held for six hours.
Cro Cop faced former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir on 25 September 2010 at UFC 119, replacing an injured Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira. There was a brief scare the weekend before the fight when Cro Cop suffered an eye injury in Croatia during his final day of training, but upon arrival in the U.S., was medically cleared to compete.
Neither fighter managed to deliver any significant damage to the other until Cro Cop was defeated by Mir at 4:02 of the third round by KO due to a knee strike to the head. In a later interview for a Croatian television station, Cro Cop stated that he suffered a disc herniation three weeks before the fight with Mir. He decided not to inform the UFC about this injury because he believed it would seem as if 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 way of KO at 3:44 of the third round. Shortly after the knockout loss to Schaub, Dana White stated that Cro Cop is most likely retiring. Since this time, Dana White has appeared to have had a change of heart. 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 these situations like Chuck Liddell, who needed to retire right then. He’s a man, a grown man, and if he wants to continue to fight, 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. Even though he looked to be in a good physical condition for the fight, he still didn’t look like the same fighter from his days in PRIDE FC. In an interview to a Croatian television station, Cro Cop revealed that he suffered an arm injury in training 10 days before the fight. Cro Cop said the injury came as a result of him sparring with Pat Barry and that the doctors told him he had to go into surgery because a tendon had separated from a bone, but he refused. He decided to go through with the fight without informing the UFC officials about his injury.
Mirko Cro Cop Mma
Although he had not completely retired, Cro Cop considered that his days with the UFC, and possibly MMA, were finished. He announced that he would return to kickboxing to fight at Cro Cop Final Fight 2012 at the Zagreb Arena on 10 March 2012. Mirko defeated Ray Sefo by unanimous decision.
Cro Cop fought on 27 May 2012 at 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 the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 in Tokyo Final 16 on 14 October 2012. 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. Despite this incident, Cro Cop was able to outfight the American en route to a majority decision win.
He was scheduled to fight at Cro Cop Final Fight 2013 on 15 March 2013 in Zagreb and expressed his desire to face Gökhan Saki. The event was then merged with the K-1 World Grand Prix 2012 Final and was the first K-1 World Grand Prix held outside of Japan. He faced American boxer Jarrell Miller in the quarter-finals where the panel of judges awarded Cro Cop a unanimous decision (29–28, 29–28, and 30–27) due to Cro Cop landing more significant strikes. He advanced to the semi-finals where he outpointed Pavel Zhuravlev to another unanimous decision. In the final, he fought Ismael Londt and floored the Suriname fighter with his patented left high kick in round two en route to yet another unanimous decision victory to win the tournament, thirteen years after he had finished as runner-up in 1999.
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 rematch Pat Barry at Glory 17: Los Angeles in Inglewood, California on 21 June 2014 but Barry withdrew from the fight for undisclosed reasons and was replaced by Sergei Kharitonov. Kharitonov then also withdrew, however, and was replaced by Jarrell Miller. Cro Cop won the rematch, against Jarrell Miller, by unanimous decision.