Rumors in Croatia: Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic retires from Mixed Martial Arts
Posted on June 14, 2010, 08:45 AM by Anton GurevichAccording to the Croatian website vecernji.hr, legendary Pride Champion Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has decided not to extend his contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship and to retire from Mixed Martial Arts. Cro Cop revealed that his mysterious eye injury was the main reason behind the decision to retire. Filipovic thanked his coach and long time mentor Ivan Hippolyte, claiming that he no longer feels hungry to perform at his best.
Only yesterday, Mirko Filipovic declared at the UFC 115 post-fight Press Conference that he is interested in renewing his UFC contract, with sights on continuing proving everyone that he still belongs to the MMA Heavyweight elite. Despite of the fact that Vecernji.hr is one of the biggest sports websites in Croatia, stay tuned to LowKick.com for official announcements from the UFC or Mirko Cro Cop.
Source: vecernji.hr (Use Google Translate)
Cro Cop in MMA and K-1:
PrideFC 2006 Openweight Grand Prix Champion
K-1 World Grand Prix 1999 Runner Up
K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Fukuoka Runner Up
IKBF World Heavyweight Full Contact Champion
MMA Record of 27-7-2-1
20 Knockouts, 4 Submissions, 3 Decisions, 2 Draws and 1 No Contest.
fightersonlymagazine.co.uk provides a translation for the article:
"In addition to winning the Pride Grand Prix Finals, [UFC 115] it’s my favorite fight of my career [but] most of the training proved to me that I am now too old for this…I don’t know about a new contract with the UFC. I believe that I gave this game a lot, I fought with the greatest fighters," Cro Cop said.
"For 20 years I lived this life and now I have no motivation for the fight, no mental strength for all the Spartan training. I am no longer so hungry for victory. I will not stop training, but if I am asleep I’ll stay in bed and practice an hour later."
"I have some [seminar] contacts around the seminar circuit in the U.S., Australia, Europe and even Brazil," Cro Cop said.
Comments
I think that is good a idea, that way he retires with a great win at the end of his carrer...
I'd much rather see him retire on top (respectively) than to hang around too long and tarnish his image with silly losses or (God forbid) get seriously injured. He's still a legend (despite his lackluster UFC career) and should remain that way. Too many guys let illusions or money or whatever keep them in the ring well past their prime, and I'd hate to see Mirko do the same.
he aint going no where!!! i'm prettty sure he would like a shot a the title beore making decison's on retirement
i agree, its the same with cuck as much i want to see him fight he should retire with pride and honor and not being a gatekeeper that always lose
i agree with this. i knew something was up when he didnt have any sponcers. no fight shorts, no t-shirt and no sponcer poster behind him in his corner.
Doesnt bother me really. He would never be HW champ anyways.
Still respect Mirko though.
Its funny how hard of a time people have with the truth... I mean I am not going to speculate on whether or not he is retiring, but the fact that he will never be HW champ is without a doubt a fact...
I agree but he could be the LHW champ if he really wanted to.
i wasjust about to say. he should move down a weight class he only weighs in at 230lbs or somthing like that. cut 25lbs and he's good
i'm with both of yall on that. he has no chance of being the UFC HW champ. but i still wanna see him fight
Indeed
I've got to say that I would not be surprised if this is true. He has made comments in the past about retiring and after his fight he seemed happy but something in his body language said that he was saying good bye. I will be very happy if this is true. Far too many legends stay around for an embarrassingly long time. It will be good to see him retire after a win like he just had.
This is not true, his going to extend his contract with ufc...... rumors from Croatia is NOT true, im from Croatia so i knew for shure.... hes even mabye going to be coach for next season of the ultimate fighter.... ..(sorry for bad english :))...
Yeah I refuse to believe this for a second until substantial evidence is revealed for it. There are always rumors like this. I can't say it is impossible, but seems VERY unlikely at this time. Dana and Cro Cop both have talked about him finishing his career in the UFC and that he had a great performance.
Your English isn't bad at all dude. You speak better English than half the kids in the U.S. It's always that "yo, yo, yo" bull sh**. Thanks skittles and snoopy diggy dog for ruining our youth !!!
If he finishes now he finishes in the UFC. I also await confirmation regardless of where the rumor comes from but it is best if it is true. I don't want him to go out like Chuck.
He isn't anywhere near Chuck's current condition. Chuck has been knocked out so much lately, and has lost all but one fight! Mirko just put on an impressive performance against a young hungry fighter. He just got sub of the night, and probably put on one of the top 3 fights of the evening!
Vecernji is Crostian newspaper, and they just make many fake news and rumors so they can sell bunch of newspapers.....
This can't be true. After the fight i thought he'd announce his retirement when he had the mike. Instead he asked for a bonus & other stuff. He still has fight left in him.
This article is BS, he is obsesed with getting that extended contract with Dana.
When mirko took the mic from Rogen i thought he was gonna say he is retired.
i think the eye injury finished him, the eye and jaw looked brutal
Good way to leave the sport, Cro Cop
before this fight cro cop in interview said its first fight where his knee was back to 100% from surgery. If he does have serious eye issue maybe he will retire, but if not i guarantee he'll be back as its first time he's been fully fit for a few years.
I hope he gets a few more wins before he goes out. I don't want to see him look old in the ring though.
The difference between the second and third round and the first is the fact that Pat Barry broke his hand.... Or efff'ed it up pretty bad. In a post fight interview it was severely swollen. I have also heard he injured his foot as well...
And that Crocop looked much much better as the fight wore on and Barry gassed? Also Franklin just KO'd Chuck on the same card with a broken arm so maybe Barry should have sucked it up?
I agree with you, broken bones dont seem to slow most fighters down and he broke them trying to take Cro-Cop out which he didnt do he gave Cro-Cop all he had and he kept coming. I think Cro-Cop still has some good fights in him but I'd love to see him fight at 205 I think he could make a great run
Franklin didn't knock out anybody with a broken arm.
Yeah I think he would have trouble reaching 205, but I would love to see that. The top heavyweights will pose big problems for Mirko simply because of the size advantage.
I was hoping he would sing "With or without you." I always loved when U2 performed that song live.
Something to take away from this video. When he won the Pride GP, he was not in as good of shape as he is now. People who throw around excuses that Pride fighters are old, are ignoring the facts. Mirko just told you. He's in better shape now than he was then, how are his chances against the top UFC heavies and light-heavies? Remote...
Would like to see him rematch Pat. But I'm happy for him leaving on a high note.