UFC Fight Night Gonzaga vs Cro Cop 2 | 11 Apr 15 | |||||
UFC 137 Penn vs Diaz | 29 Oct 11 | |||||
UFC 128 Shogun vs Jones | 19 Mar 11 | |||||
UFC 119 Mir vs Cro Cop | 25 Sep 10 | |||||
UFC 115 Liddell vs Franklin | 12 Jun 10 | |||||
Mirko Filipović (Croatian pronunciation: ; born 10 September 1974), better known by his ring name Mirko Cro Cop, is a Croatian former professional mixed martial artist, kickboxer and amateur boxer. He is mostly known for his time in Pride Fighting Championships. Cro Cop fought in the UFC, K-1, RIZIN and Bellator. He is widely considered one of the greatest Heavyweight Kickboxers and MMA fighters of all time.
Cro Cop is the 2006 Pride Open-Weight Grand Prix Champion, the K-1 World Grand Prix FINAL in Zagreb 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 employment 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 roundhouse 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 Social Democratic Party.
On 1 March 2019, he announced his retirement for health reasons, specifically a stroke he suffered.