Issue 067

November 2010

Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic once terrorized the MMA heavyweight division, but found the move from the Pride FC ring to the UFC cage unexpectedly difficult. However, a new training regime and a strong win over Pat Barry has rejuvenated the Croatian veteran, and some huge fights could be just around the corner.

Thirty-five-year-old Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic first made a name for himself by delivering jaw-dropping knockouts in the K-1 kickboxing promotion. His weapon of choice was the left head kick, delivered with unbelievable force from out of nowhere. When he moved into MMA via Japanese mega-promotion Pride in 2001, he amassed an army of fans entranced by his catchphrase: “Right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery.”

Despite his popularity, Filipovic remained aloof from the press and an enigma to fans and fellow fighters alike. This may be a legacy of his time as an anti-terrorist police officer in his native Croatia – hence the nickname Cro Cop – and his four years as a center-left independent member of parliament.

Filipovic is truly one of the most compelling and enigmatic characters in mixed martial arts. While he’s had mixed results in the UFC, his recent performance against up-and-comer Pat Barry was described by critics as ‘vintage Cro Cop.’ It is our pleasure to present this in-depth and exclusive feature interview, made all the more special by its rarity. This is Cro Cop as you’ve never heard him before.

You looked very relaxed before and after your victory over Pat Barry at UFC 115 in Vancouver. What’s changed?

“I felt good. I was in the shape of my life, definitely. If you study my fight history, as fights went on my condition and stamina would go down and down. Most of my career I was practically a self-made fighter: I had no trainer pushing me to go further.”

Being self-trained, it’s incredible that you made it as far as you did.

“Look at the MMA scene in Croatia – it didn’t even exist when I started. It’s developing slowly but it’s still kind of dead. So for the whole of my career I was preparing in my own house in Zagreb. My friends involved in boxing would help out. Of course they had too much respect for me and they didn’t dare to put the squeeze on me, to raise the voice – with Hippolyte it’s completely different. Hippo took it out of me. And I am aware that I made a terrible mistake in not meeting Hippolyte before.” 

Hippolyte being your new trainer?

“I spent eight weeks [before the Pat Barry fight] with Ivan Hippolyte, a true legend of Thai boxing and adapting it for MMA, and it was unbelievable. Hippolyte comes to Zagreb and he brings three sparring partners from Amsterdam for me for eight weeks. We did four rounds of six minutes, changing the partner every two minutes. Then he would kill me with pads and make me do more rounds of grappling. In Vancouver we were doing three five-minute rounds at a super-high tempo that you would never get in a fight. I felt like I had just got out of bed after the three rounds, so I knew I was in top shape. And believe me, if I wasn’t ready like that there is a big chance I would have stayed down after those punches.”

You’ve signed a one-fight deal to replace Antonio Rogerio Noguiera against Frank Mir at UFC 119. Will you sign something firmer in the future?

“Well, I don’t know. First of all I will take a rest. Then definitely I will talk with Lorenzo [Ferttita, UFC chairman]. I closed this last contract with him. But I really cannot say right now if I will continue fighting. The conditions would have to be right; it has to be an opponent that makes me inspired to go through eight weeks of hell with Hippolyte. People say to me, ‘Couture has 46, 47 years and he is still fighting, so you still have many years left.’ But people forget, he has had 16 or 17 fights altogether in his career. I have 35 in MMA and 26 in K-1 and then 44 amateur boxing matches before that – I have had three times more fights than Randy. So of course I am not old in years, but, believe me, I have been around! I have been to Japan 44 times. That is 44 times I got out of bed, went to the airport and traveled all the way to Japan, fought once, twice, in a night, suffered jet lag, no sleep, broken bones, stitches – at some point you become sick of everything. So I am still thinking about what to do and right now I need some rest. I will talk with Lorenzo and we will see.” 

What about opponents, what kind of names would motivate you to go through “eight weeks of hell” with Hippolyte?

“I need fights that will inspire me. That means fights with the legends. Randy Couture, Antonio Nogueira and [Gabriel] Gonzaga – in that order, actually. At this point in my career I am interested in big-name fights and in straightening some things out. Since 2003 it’s inside of me to have a rematch with Nogueira, definitely. He is one of the true legends, Couture too. When I was with Pride I was asked many times, how would I fight against Couture? Well now we could find out.”

At the time you moved to the UFC, is it fair to assume you thought that the road to the title would be fairly easy?

“I never think anything will be easy. I am not that kind of man. Even when I go home to my village on the Croatian border I don’t think it’s easy. Who knows what could happen on the road? But I underestimated the cage. Different rules apply in the cage. You cannot push someone into the corner, for example. Or in Pride, if you are on your back against the ropes, you pull your head out of the ring and the referee will move you both to the center. We were used to using knees to the head [of a grounded opponent], which I liked. If a guy would shoot I would sprawl and use knees to the head. It is not allowed in the UFC – but the UFC allows elbows. There are many differences that at first you are not aware of, or do not appreciate. But I was always aware that the UFC has good fighters who will not sell their skin so easy.”

So the rules made a very big difference?

“And the environment. In Japan the audience is very quiet. It feels like you are in the opera. American and European audiences have a Western mentality – and I have a Western mentality, we are the same in Croatia. People are screaming and shouting and booing if they are not satisfied.”

Speaking of rings and cages, did you watch Fedor Emelianenko’s fight against your former jiu-jitsu partner Fabricio Werdum in the Strikeforce cage? What did you think of Fedor’s loss?

“It had to happen one day. They are both good fighters. Of course I wanted Werdum to win and get his dream – we trained together for a few years. He texted me a few hours before the fight, he never did that before. He said, ‘It’s my night tonight’ and I said, ‘Good luck! Chin down and hands up!’

“Fedor made a mistake but Werdum is very skilled on the ground. His speciality is the triangle – and the armbar from the triangle. He is physically very strong and Fedor tried to escape to the wrong side. Many fighters do this. I was taught by Fabricio and then by Dean Lister to always escape around the blocked arm. So instead of going to his right he should go to his left and try to put the knee on Fabricio’s face. When I fought Fedor I closed a triangle in the third round – not completely, because I was dead tired – and he also made the same mistake. 

“Plus, like everything in life, luck has its role. Remember with Randleman? Fedor could have died [from the slam]. A few centimeters left or right he could have died. Definitely he could have died then. And when Fujita threw the right hook, it was a lucky punch, but it landed on Fedor’s chin and Fedor was knocked out on his feet. Instead of throwing one more punch, Fujita took the leg. Of course after 30 seconds he recovered and managed to stand up and finish him. “Against Werdum he wasn’t lucky, he made a mistake and that’s it, that’s life.”

You spent four years as a member of parliament in Croatia, and we have heard you say that politics is harder than fighting. Do you still feel that way?

“Yes, that’s right. There is more honor in fighting than in any other business. We are all trained, know the rules and respect the referee. But in politics... Hah. Politics is something that we cannot avoid in life. Deal with politics or politics will deal with you. I was an MP for four years and that was enough for me. But I do not regret it. I saw inside how it works and of course I made some great friendships. I am that kind of person; I don’t regret anything in my life.”

Are you a major celebrity in Croatia? 

“People recognize me everywhere. But Croatia is too small to have ‘celebrities’ as such. We have many so-called, or even ‘self-called’, celebrities; people who are happy to make idiots of themselves on some reality show, or they are some third-class singer. They get on the cover of some third-class magazine. But you are talking about someone who probably lives at home with their parents, doesn’t have a dollar in their pocket. They think they are a celebrity but really people are laughing at them. Of course we have world-famous sportsmen who are genuine celebrities. But people like that – maybe I should be arrogant and include myself here – avoid those kind of things.

“I don’t want to offend anyone, but I don’t want to share a magazine cover with someone who is there because they were stupid enough to expose some intimate details or participate in some stupid reality show; people who are hungry to be superstars. I am not. I am just a fighter who at the beginning of his career wanted to get financial independence for me and my mother. Things were hard, especially after the war when my father died. I just wanted to get me and my mother out of the misery.”

Do you consciously avoid attention?

“In the last 15 years I was never out in some famous, trendy club – and there are many in Zagreb. I just don’t like all that. I have a coffee bar in Zagreb and we go there, play cards and lock ourselves in.”

So we aren’t going to see you on Celebrity Big Brother or Dancing With The Stars?

“Not in this life! Tell me, who goes into Big Brother? A bunch of losers. When did you see a true star from the world of sport, movies, politics go into Big Brother? Maybe I am being brutal but that is how I see it. For me, I have my job and I like it and I enjoy it. I just don’t need that shit, people trying to be involved in my private life.”

Before UFC 116 you were held by Canadian immigration under war crimes legislation. What exactly happened?

“I was arrested at the airport for nothing, because they have some stupid law. They are checking everyone from Croatia and they connected me with the Croatian police force. Seven days before the fight I am being held like a criminal for no reason – I don’t need that!

“It’s because I was a member of the special police force [ATJ Lucko, the Croatian anti-terrorist police and the first fighting unit to be formed in the ‘Croatian War of Independence’ against Serbia in the early ‘90s] and I served with the Croatian army in 1993 to 1994, when I was just 18. They wanted to know which conflicts I was involved in, who was my commander… This is classified information. It concerns only the Croatian government.

“It was six hours of interrogation. It disgusted me. I had to sit there and surrender my passport. But I have to say that I have no problem with the immigration personnel, they were not aggressive and they were very professional. They were just following orders. Of course, I understand this.”

Why do you never wear sponsors on your shorts?

“Well I don’t think it’s a place for sponsors. T-shirt is OK. But fighting shorts, no.”

You’re not a big fan of press conferences either...

“Yeah not so much, because I have had so many fights and done it so many times. And it is always the same questions, ‘How are you feeling? Did you train hard for this fight?’ What am I supposed to say? ‘No, I was lying in bed for six months’? It is just irritating. I think, at the end of the day, people want to see two fighters fighting, not talking at each other, making predictions, or spitting at each other.

“Sometimes I am just in a bad mood or I don’t feel comfortable to talk in English because I have to concentrate on what I am to say. But last time was OK, because I knew I was 130% ready for the fight.”

Public perception is that you’re rather stern. But insiders talk of your reputation as a practical joker. What’s the best one you’ve performed?

“Ah there are so many! People were shocked when I started doing it but I am always like that. People who followed my career know I am a crazy man for playing jokes and so is my whole team. You can find so many of our jokes on YouTube. Like the fake shooting at the anti-terrorist unit when we used blanks as the reporters visited.”

Fedor Emelianenko has talked of retirement, so have you, there are rumors around Wanderlei Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira – it’s like the age of legends is coming to an end.

“It’s natural. Too many fights – I am talking about all of us – too many injuries, too much travel, too much jet lag. So much stress, so much training. There comes a point that you get sick of everything. It varies from man to man but injuries play a big role. Nogueira took terrible punches in his career; Wanderlei has had a few surgeries.

“But they are all of them true legends in my eyes. Fedor, Nogueira, Wanderlei – they are legends and they will always be remembered in this sport. They have nothing left to prove to anyone. They can keep going if they want just for their own reasons, to entertain their fans who have supported them in good moments and bad. That’s good motivation.”

The laughing anti-terrorist policeman: Cro Cop’s best practical jokes

Teasing commentators

During a pre-fight interview at Pride 27 in 2004, Cro Cop suddenly rounded on interviewer Mauro Ranallo for “talking bullshit about me” during his commentary of a past fight. Ranallo protested that he hadn’t been part of the team that night, but Cro Cop – catchphrase ‘right leg hospital; left leg cemetery’ – led him from the room by the scruff of his neck. Visibly shaken, Ranallo spoke to production staff outside, looking for someone to intervene. But Cro Cop came bounding out after him looking aggressive – only to high-five Ranallo and proclaim: “This is just a joke!” Ranallo nearly fainted.

Terrifying news teams

Cro Cop was part of anti-terrorist special police unit ATJ Lucko for several years. A Croatian news team came to visit one day as he trained with the officers, and his mind turned to pranks. As Cro Cop gave the representatives of the media a tour of the facility a ‘heated’ argument broke out. One of the officers involved drew a gun and began firing wildly at people. As he ran amok, the news team cowered in mortal terror – until the kickboxing icon broke out in howls of laughter and admitted it had all been a stunt. 

Soaking fellow guests

As he explains in our interview, Cro Cop has been to Japan 44 times to fight. That’s a lot of time to spend bored in hotels. So his team evolved a simple but entertaining game. They’d take containers of water and wander around the hotel knocking on random doors. As soon as someone opened the door they’d get soaked by a bunch of fighters who fled in hysterics. If Cro Cop’s ever staying in your hotel, use the spy hole.