Fight Story 01.25.07: Strike On
Posted by Damian Sarcuni on 01.25.2007
The tale of Mirko Crocop Filipovic
Welcome to the new and improved Fight Story, the now bi-weekly written history of Mixed Martial Arts. I'm Damian Sarcuni and my editor is Jose Chavez. Together, our goal with this column is to record the history of MMA while showing the epic stories behind each fighter that the record books don't always show. Today's article marks the first of what will now be a regularly submitted column here on 411, and what better way to kick things off than with a fighter who is now facing a huge first in his own career, Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic.
Strike On: The tale of Mirko Crocop
As any fan of martial arts movies can tell you, the moves performed on the silver screen are quite different from those performed in mixed martial arts rings and cages around the world. While no one disputes the fact that the great Bruce Lee or his colleagues were incredible fighters, they simply gained worldwide fame by performing in front of a camera in fights that were not real, performing stunts that would not necessarily happen in a real fight. So when people watch mixed martial arts, seeing judo and karate masters fighting wrestlers and jiu jitsu masters is a bit of a wake up call. These fighters, unlike their on screen counter parts, feature move sets that are completely based in reality and for the most part do not achieve the same standard result every time, like in the movies.
…except for Mirko Crocop.
Both as a professional kickboxer and as a mixed martial artist, Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic made a name for himself by performing moves that resulted in the same result every time, much like a video game character. The most infamous of these is his left high kick, which allows Crocop to knockout almost any opponent with one direct hit, regardless of how beat up or weathered they are. Add to that his ambidextrous fighting stances, vicious left straight punches, and top tier striking ability overall, and you have the formula for one of the most dangerous fighters in the entire world.
Known as the Croatian sensation (a nickname previously given to famed fighter Pat Militech) Mirko Crocop is now on his way to the UFC, to fight inside the caged octagon for the first time in his career. While fans have been talking up a storm about Crocop's future, his past is the stuff of legends, and worth a good long look before his first upcoming UFC fight, February 3rd at the Mandalay Bay events center in Las Vegas.
Chapter 1 – K-1 Contender
Not much is written about Mirko Filipovic's life prior to his fighting career. Born September 10th, 1974 in the town of Privlaka, Croatia, Crocop did not begin his professional kickboxing career until 21 years later. During that time, Filipovic had been working as a commando in the creation anti-terrorist unit called "alpha", which was stationed near Croatia's capital of Zagreb at the time. This earned him the nickname Crocop (Croatian cop) although he also fought initially under the nickname "Tigar" or tiger.
Crocop first appeared in K-1 following friend and compatriot Branko Cicatic' into the ring. Cicatic' was the first ever K-1 grand prix tournament winner and can be credited with starting up Crocop's fighting career. That year, Crocop entered the K-1 grand prix elimination tournament and quickly gained notoriety by defeating one of the previous year's finalists, Jerome Le Banner. However, Crocop was stopped in the next round by famed K-1 kickboxing legend Ernesto Hoost.
Crocop entered the tournament again three years later and fared much better by scoring big wins over big kickboxing names such as Mike Bernardo, Musashi, and Sam Greco. However, near the end of the tournament, Crocop crossed paths with Ernesto Hoost again and was eliminated from the tournament once more. Despite this, Crocop continued to have success in K-1, beating top competition such as Peter Aerts and Remy Bojansky. Mirko even became the first man to beat AND score a knockout victory over the huge Bob "The Beast" Sapp in a mere 86 seconds.
Whenever he attempted to enter any K-1 grand prix, however, Crocop did not have the same measure of success. In the 2000 Nagoya tournament, Crocop reached the finals only to lose via TKO in the first round to Mike Bernardo whom he had previously defeated. In the 2000 international grand prix, Crocop lost yet again to Ernesto Hoost via judge's decision. Finally, in 2001, Crocop was hit with a flash KO from Michael McDonald in the first round of their fight. This marked a crossroad on Crocop's kickboxing career and, combined with a generous offer from Dream Stage Entertainment, Crocop looked to make a name for himself in the PRIDE Fighting Championship ring.
Chapter 2 – A Larger World
Crocop had fought hard to become K-1 champion, but the reality was he simply could not beat Ernesto Hoost to do it. Thus, to seek other challenges for himself, Crocop began fighting in bouts against famous mixed martial artists both in K-1 and in PRIDE, such as Kazuyuki Fujita and Nobuhiko Takada. However, many of Crocop's fights happened under special K-1 rules, as he was not yet ready to deal with being taken to the ground or submitted. At the same time, Crocop won a few sparing K-1 bouts against fighters such has Mark Hunt and Bob Sapp.
Crocop started off by racking up wins and draws, most notably drawing against middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva in a special rules match. Mirko followed that up by beating PRIDE FC legend Kazushi Sakuraba in two rounds. In December of 2002, Crocop scored another victory over Kazuyuki Fujita in K-1, and shortly after that, he made plans to move to PRIDE FC full time to fight under true mixed martial arts rules. Mirko aimed high for his first true MMA match, taking on top heavyweight Heath Herring who was known a bit more for his ground game than his striking. The match started off with the American Herring swinging aggressively while Crocop slowly picked his attacks. Herring successfully blocked Crocop's high kick and even attempted one of his own. Whenever Herring shot for a takedown, Crocop executed another move that he would become known for, his perfect sprawl. The fight rarely went to the ground and when it did, it was Crocop who remained in control, hitting Herring with a few knees to the head. When Herring got back to his feet, Crocop landed a vicious liver kick that stunned Herring, dropping his head long enough for the Croatian to move in for the kill. Mirko knocked Herring into the corner and pounded away on top of him until the referee ended the fight, marking Mirko's first true MMA win at 3 minutes and 17 seconds in the first round.
Crocop continued his winning streak with a big win over infamous striker Igor Vovchanchyn, who fell prey to Crocop's high kick at PRIDE's Total Elimination 2003 at just 1:29 in the first round. Crocop also knocked out the masked Dos Caras Jr. in just 46 seconds at PRIDE's first ever Bushido show via another high kick. These dominating performances allowed Crocop a shot against interim heavyweight title holder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the Brazilian jiu jitsu master. Although Crocop dominated Nogueira for pretty much the entire fight, the submission magician managed to take Crocop down and quickly submit him via an armbar in the second round. Crocop, who felt he was well on his way to winning his first major title, had underestimated Nogueira and the submission game completely. He quickly realized that his striking ability would not be enough to conquer the PRIDE ring.
Filipovic dedicated himself to becoming a complete mixed martial artist. In the past year, he had ran for and won a seat on the Croatian parliament and campaigned for larger funding for their police force. However, with lack of lobbying power in the parliament and his loss in PRIDE, Filipovic dropped out of politics and the police force altogether to focus on the one thing that had evaded him in his career all this time: a world championship belt
Making his return in February of the next year, Crocop faced up against American wrestler Ron "H2O" Waterman at PRIDE 27 – Inferno. Waterman was able to get a takedown on Crocop early and managed to work into Mirko's guard. However, Crocop had been training a bit more on the ground and made it very difficult for Waterman to attempt any submissions or gain distance to strike. Mirko even managed to land some good strikes while on his back. Constantly working his positioning, Crocop opened his guard and kicked Waterman away, then stood up and immediately went for his trademark left high kick. While the blow did not hit directly, it glanced off the top of Waterman's head which was enough to stun him. Mirko rushed in with a punching and kicking combo, bringing Waterman to his knees. Repeatedly soccer kicking the wrestler in the head, Mirko tripped once but when Waterman could not get up to capitalize it was clear he was in trouble. One more soccer kick to the head was all it took for the referee to step in and award Crocop the victory via TKO at 1:37 in the first round.
Chapter 3 – The Monster
A first round win over Yoshihisa Yamamoto at PRIDE's second Bushido show brought Mirko Crocop into the PRIDE's heavyweight tournament for the 2004 year. Scheduled to face former UFC champion Kevin "The Monster" Randleman in the first round of the tournament at Total Elimination 2004, Crocop was confident of his chances going into the bout. Randleman, a tenacious wrestler training with Mark Coleman's Hammer House team, was a major underdog going into this fight, coming off two losses to the smaller Kazushi Sakuraba and the up and coming Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. Not many people gave Randleman a chance in the fight, but Randleman (cornered by the famous striker Chuck Liddell in this match) and Hammer House had noticed a flaw in Crocop's game that no one else would ever have thought to exploit.
When the bell rang, Randleman immediately moved forward, pushing Crocop up against the turnbuckle. Randleman worked for a body lock, attempting a takedown, but Crocop maintained his balance and pushed Kevin away enough to bring the two fighters into a stalemate. The referee repeatedly called for action and was soon forced to break the hold and restart the two fighters facing off in the ring's center. Randleman kept his right hand next to his head the whole time to protect himself from Crocop's left high kick and circled him, eventually diving in for another takedown attempt. Mirko quickly moved into sprawl position, forcing Randleman to come back up and continue circling.
Consider now the mindset of Mirko Crocop, one of the top kickboxers in the world, during this match. Randleman was a collegiate wrestler coming off two recent losses, one of which was a TKO. Randleman had already attempted to shoot in and take Crocop down twice, and neither man had thrown a single punch since the match started. The two squared off facing each other, and when Kevin made a forward motion again, Mirko countered with the move he knew would finish things quickly: his left high kick.
He never saw Randleman's left hand coming.
The flaw in Mirko's game was in his most powerful move. Whenever Crocop threw a left high kick, he had to drop his hands to do it, leaving himself wide open. Like Bald Bull's bull charge in Super Punch Out, Crocop's one hit KO maneuver also left him susceptible to one hit KO's. This is the stuff of fiction that we see in movies and video games, but for Mirko Filipovic it was all too real. Crocop expected Randleman to shoot in for another takedown and wasn't worried about protecting his face, thus he moved to throw the left high kick. But this time, Randleman wasn't shooting. He threw a lightning fast left straight punch that hit Mirko perfectly on the right side of the jaw, knocking him to the canvas. Randleman was on top of the stunned Croatian instantly, who was still trying to recover from being stunned. Although Crocop did his best to hold Randleman close, his strength was waning from being stunned. Crocop let go of Randleman which prompted the American to rain down a series of hammer fists (strikes with the side of the fist) directly onto Crocop's chin. After three of these, Crocop went limp. After four, the referee rushed in to pull Randleman off. The biggest upset in mixed martial arts history set the crowd, the announcers, and everyone watching on fire. At 1:57 in the first round, Kevin "The Monster" Randleman had knocked out Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic.
Chapter 4 – Outshined
This loss not only ended Crocop's path to the world championship, it also started to change his outlook. Up to this point, Crocop's only loss had come at the hands of a submission master and former PRIDE champion. But this time, Crocop, the world class kickboxer, had been knocked out by an American wrestler on a losing streak. Swearing never to underestimate anyone again, Crocop needed to get right back into the ring and did so in PRIDE's Bushido series once again. Here he scored victories over Hiromitsu Kanehara and Shungo Oyama. Still somewhat frustrated, Crocop began begging the PRIDE organization for a shot at the world title before the heavyweight tournament he was knocked out of was even over, claiming that his loss to Randleman was a fluke and constantly seeking revenge. In addition to this, Crocop began training with Brazilian jiu jitsu champion Fabricio Werdum to work on his ground technique.
Crocop started his path towards heavyweight phenomenon Fedor Emelianenko with a fight against the champion's much larger brother Aleksander at PRIDE's Final Conflict 2004. At the start of the fight, Aleksander constantly moved forward (somewhat of a premonition to his brother Fedor's anti-Crocop strategy) and was more than willing to trade with the Croatian. Crocop used kicks to keep the big Russian at bay, and when Emelianenko put Crocop into the corner Mirko fired off a big knee that hit Aleksander in the head. This put the champion's brother further away from Crocop, which he in turn used to get out of the corner, but Emelianenko continued to chase Mirko around the ring with big combos to the body and head.
The tide turned when Emelianenko back Crocop into another corner only to miss a big right hook. Crocop used this opportunity to take Aleksander's back, and then unleashed a furious combo of strikes to the head as soon as Aleksander turned around. Stunned, Aleksander pushed forward on Crocop who managed to take throw the big man down to the ground. He immediately followed up with his trademark soccer kick to the head, but rather than get into a ground battle with the Russian sambo champion, Mirko motioned for Aleksander to stand back up. The fight slowed a bit as the two circled and countered each other, but Aleksander's fatigue was clear. It wasn't long before he dropped his right hand and Mirko delivered the left high kick and added some strikes on the ground, knocking the Russian out 2 minutes and 9 seconds into the first round.
Shortly afterward, Crocop also met with someone who would be very influential in his career, squaring off against former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett. Josh, making his debut in the PRIDE ring, found himself to be far out of shape and ended up injuring his own shoulder while grappling with the Croatian. This was the first of many meetings for the two men, and although the victory went to Crocop, he announced that he felt Josh had showed a lot of heart and offered a rematch in the future.
Back in contention for the heavyweight title, Mirko knew it was time to avenge his loss to Randleman. At PRIDE's Shockwave 2004, Crocop squared off against Randleman one more time. The fight started off almost exactly the same as their first contest, with Randleman rushing forward and backing Crocop up into the ropes with a shot. This time, however, the Croatian was ready and when Randleman slipped down to grab Mirko's legs, he stealthily applied a guillotine choke, pushing his hips back. In addition to this, Crocop managed to add a knee into Kevin's head for good measure. Sensing danger, Kevin began to scramble and push Crocop against the corner turnbuckle once more, but Mirko held onto the choke hold. Arching his back again, Crocop left Randleman with nowhere to go. Randleman was forced to submit at 41 seconds into the first round.
Meanwhile, at the same event, Fedor Emelianenko once again dominated Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to solidify himself as the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world, having more or less bested all possible contenders besides the Croatian kickboxer. If Crocop wanted to win the PRIDE heavyweight belt, he would have his work cut out for him. Although there was a bit of a delay put on the fight while Fedor worked out some injuries, Crocop made good use of the time by scoring wins over Mark "The Hammer" Coleman and Ibragim Magomedov, one of Fedor's training partners in the Red Devil sport club. With Crocop back on the winning track and no one else left to challenge Fedor, the fight was on and Crocop got his long awaited shot at the PRIDE heavyweight title. To train for the bout, Fedor consulted the man who had out struck Crocop so many years ago, Ernesto Hoost. Going into PRIDE's Final Conflict 2005, both men were confident they would walk out with the belt.
From the outset it was clear that Fedor, like Randleman before him, had found another flaw in Crocop's game plan. Fedor constantly shuffled forward, forcing Crocop to circle him. Putting the pressure on Crocop and giving him little space between his opponent and the ropes or corner apparently threw the Croatian out of his mental game and nullified much of his aggressiveness. Fedor quickly attempted a takedown but Mirko held his footing and the two continued to circle. Crocop attempted a fast left kick but Fedor was able to block it easily with his right shin. The two continued to circle and exchange, but Fedor never gave Crocop time to stand still. Although Crocop did manage to tag Fedor with left straight punches down the middle, it wasn't enough to gain advantage over the undefeated PRIDE champion. As time went on, Emelianenko managed to land a few brief combos and put even more pressure on the Croatian. Soon enough, when Mirko threw the left high kick, Fedor ducked perfectly and shot forward, knocking Crocop off balance and throwing him to the ground. As Fedor dove on top, however, Crocop moved out of the way and the champion nearly fell out of the ring. Round 1 continued in much the same manner with both men countering each other for single shots, but with Fedor pressing the action and getting in far more punching combinations. Crocop eventually tried for another high left kick that grazed Fedor's cheek and nose, causing blood to flow from the champion's face. Unfortunately for Crocop, he slipped while throwing the kick which allowed Fedor to take him to the ground and lay in the vicious ground and pound strikes that the champion was known for.
Fedor unleashed even more combos at the start of round 2 as he began to work Crocop's body, sensing just how tired the Croatian was. Crocop's repeated attempts at the left high kick usually missed and eventually Fedor managed to bring the fight to the ground once more. Crocop once again finished round 2 on his back, avoiding Fedor's vicious ground strikes and by the sound of the bell it was clear Crocop was on the losing end of this fight. For nearly all of round 3, Fedor had Crocop on the ground and the Croatian could do little to stop the incoming strikes to his head. Crocop lost via unanimous decision in a fight that once again saw him losing not only on the ground, but also in the standing game of mixed martial arts.
Chapter 5 – Last Stand
With the belt having eluded his grasp yet again, Filipovic made an important decision about his career. He would take one more run for a world championship, but if he failed in this endeavor he would hang up his fighting gloves permanently. Before he could consider another run at any title, however, Crocop first had some obligations to fulfill: namely his promised rematch with Josh Barnett. Although Mirko managed to take a decision victory, he was greatly impressed with Barnett's self improvement and performance. At PRIDE 30 – Fully Loaded, Barnett earned Mirko's respect and this respect would later grow into a friendship.
Meanwhile, another face from Mirko's past had also come back into play as K-1 champion Mark Hunt made the jump from K-1 to the PRIDE ring as well. Although Crocop had already beaten Hunt in their previous kickboxing match in K-1, a rematch between the two gained notoriety due to a similar medical condition shared between Hunt and MMA star Kazayuki Fujita. Because Mark Hunt had a genetically thick bone structure, Hunt could not be knocked out by any human strike, including Crocop's left high kick. With that in mind, fans began to wonder what would happen if the two were matched up once more, but with lighter gloves under true MMA rules.
The answer shocked fans and Crocop as well. Although he threw absolutely everything he had at Hunt (including repeated left high kicks), the K-1 champion kept coming and literally wound up chasing Mirko around the ring. Hunt, though frustrated, never really got tired and was awarded the split decision over Crocop at PRIDE Shockwave 2005. Despite Mirko's loss, both men were invited into PRIDE's open weight tournament for the 2006 year, and with more experience and new outlook under his belt, Mirko seized the opportunity for his last run at as championship title.
In the first round, Mirko decimated the much smaller Ikuhisa "the punk" Minowa. Minowa, though known for taking on and toppling much larger opponents, had never faced someone with Crocop's speed before and fell prey to a flurry of strikes at PRIDE Total Elimination Absolute. At the following Critical Countdown Absolute, Mirko took on legendary Judoka Hidehiko Yoshida, whom Crocop knew and had a great respect for. Yoshida trained hard to be ready to block Mirko's high kicks, but in doing so he had neglected training to block low kicks. Realizing this early on in the fight, Mirko fired off as many leg kicks as possible until Yoshida was forced to submit at 7:38 in the first round.
The final night of the tournament took place on September 10th, 2006. At Final Conflict Absolute, Mirko took on middleweight champion Wanderlei Silva once more to settle the controversy behind their previous draw. Although Silva arrived at a heavier weight than Crocop for this match, Mirko was far faster and was able to punish Silva with orthodox striking that nullified Silva's wild punches. Eventually Silva's right eye was cut and began to swell and close. Though the ringside doctors were ready to stop the match, Silva begged to continue and was given a provisionary leave to finish the round. Crocop could not afford to be merciful and used the opportunity to knock Silva out with a left high kick he could never have seen coming due the closing of his right eye.
At last, Crocop arrived at the finals to face his friend Josh Barnett one last time for the PRIDE open weight championship. Barnett had just completed an absolute war against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and was far more fatigued than Mirko. Both men gave it everything they had but Crocop clearly dominated the fight. During a brief struggle on the ground, Crocop accidentally poked Barnett in the right eye. Realizing he would not be able to recover in time and would probably fall prey to the left high kick, Barnett conceded the match. At 5:32 into the first round, on his very own birthday, Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic captured the gold that had eluded him for 10 years. The uncrowned champion was crowned at last.
On Record
Thank you for reading Strike On: The tale of Mirko Crocop. While Crocop's moves and fight recaps sound like the stuff of movies and comic books, his career story carries with it a true moral lesson of self change and respect for ones opponents. By changing his attitude and destroying his own ego, Crocop gained the championship that skill alone could not give him. Having announced his contract agreement with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Crocop's story now enters a whole new phase, one that Jose and I can't stop speculating about. Here is our on record question:
Mirko Crocop Filipovic has arrived in the Ultimate Fighting Championship! Of the UFC's current roster, who is the most dangerous opponent for Crocop to face?
Damian: Despite the early loss and the downward trend in his career, I'm going to give this one to Heath Herring. I think Herring's lack of a skill set has come more from lack of competition than anything else. Even in PRIDE, Herring was constantly facing top competition he might not have been ready for and I think the UFC is much more his level than K-1 would have been. Herring is always a student of the game, as well as a fan, and you can bet that he's been watching Mirko's career closely since their fight long ago. I expect Herring to improve big time now that he is fighting on his home soil, and while it's no guarantee, I haven't seen anyone else that could give Crocop much trouble.
Jose: Seeing as how Mirko handily defeated Herring years ago and has only gotten better since, Tim Sylvia and Arlovski would top my list and even they are at some disadvantages. I see a fight with Arlovski being similar to Mirko's fight with Aleksander Emelianenko. Mirko is probably going to be too fast and his strikes too much for Andrei, who has shown in the past to have a suspect chin. It will probably end in the first round. Sylvia's got the best team in MMA training him, and a great chin. He has the capability to land that bomb to knock Mirko out, and has the reach advantage. He'll certainly train for that left high kick, and might even survive getting hit by one, but he will go down and he won't be coming up again. Mirko's devastating GNP showed in his fights with Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett, and he would most likely earn a TKO if the kick doesn't knock Sylvia out anyway. I think Mirko also has an advantage in that he's faced much tougher competition than Sylvia has. Mirko just has to be motivated enough, and Sylvia holds that title.
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Caleb Newby is back with The Tap-Out, taking a look at the potential upcoming war between Matt Lindland and Fedor Emelianenko.
Sam Caplan has your UFC Fight Night 8 breakdown, including fighter records and notable fights for everyone on the card.
Larry Csonka converts to the shoot side of the force as he brings his My Take On column into the MMA world.
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