Cro Cop May Be Retiring

[Rob]

The word going around right now is that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović hasn't been returning recent phone calls from the UFC, and may be done with the company, despite the fact that he still has three fights left on his contract.

This is pretty sad news, given the fact that his three fights in the UFC do his career absolutely no justice whatsoever. However, with so many other responsibilities in his home country of Croatia, I guess it was just a matter of time. If Cro Cop never competes again, it's very unfortunate that his UFC tenure will forever cast a blemish on an otherwise remarkable career.


In unrelated news, Anthony Torres, who was knocked out in the first round of his fight against Jess "The Joker" Liaudin at UFC 75, tested positive for steroids and was fired from the UFC. The firing doesn't come as a huge surprise, not just because of the steroid usage, but because Torres hadn't fought for a year before the Liaudin fight and was basically destroyed in that fight. As I stated in my write-ups for the event, Torres has no aggression whatsoever, and passive fighters aren't successful in the UFC. Maybe he will turn up in a smaller company, but who knows.

[Raised_by_apes]

Cro cop..... Yes it is very sad. To bad he could not get the ball rollin in the UFC. But there was so much hype for him to do well. And why did he not do well?? Not like he is not a good fighter. But his game plan was a open book. Not that game plan was bad. Just fell short a little bit. The Gonzga fight was a fluke IMO. The Kongo fight. He just looked gased and kongo fought very well.

[Rob]

Cro Cop has released statements saying that he isn't retiring and is refocused now that the surgery on his nose has corrected the longstanding issue that was badly affecting his breathing/cardio. He wants to fight against Nogueira next year, but I think that fight would likely only happen if Nogueira lost to Kongo.

As it stands now, the Nogueira/Kongo fight will, barring some sort of bizarre decision, be for the Heavyweight title. That makes a Cro Cop vs Nogueira (if Nogueira wins) fight even less likely because Cro Cop has lost two in a row. He needs at least one win before he gets a title shot. Probably two.

[Rob]

An interview today has Cro Cop stating that he is not going to retire and intends to fight at least five or six more times.

A fight with Nogueira looks to be completely out of the question, but maybe a battle with Brandon Vera or another heavyweight coming off of a loss could be in his future.

[Raised_by_apes]

That might be a good fight with Vera.