Fourteen months after he said he'd fought in mixed martial arts for the last time, Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic stepped back into the sport on New Year's Eve in Japan, and gave his fans a more positive memory to remember him by.
Facing Shinichi Suzukawa in the IGF Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2012 show, Cro Cop needed just 78 seconds to author a submission victory.
The fight began with an early eye poke from Suzukawa, but once the action resumed, Cro Cop moved aggressively forward with strikes and tripped his opponent to the ground, where he quickly moved to full mount before easing into a fight-finishing arm bar.
Afterward, Cro Cop gave no indication of whether or not he would fight again, though he has been linked to a bout with Pedro Rizzo in February.
It was a typical matchup for a Japanese New Year's Eve event, with the decorated veteran facing an opponent making his MMA debut. Suzukawa was formerly a sumo wrestler who left that sport in 2009 and has since performed as a professional wrestler.
Cro Cop had last fought at UFC 137 in October 2011, when he suffered his third straight knockout loss in the octagon, this time at the hands of Roy Nelson. Once one of the world's top heavyweights, Cro Cop could muster only a 4-6 record during his time in the UFC.
Cro Cop has since fought in kickboxing three times, going a perfect 3-0.
In another match on the card featuring another former UFC notable, ex-heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia lost a unanimous decision to Satoshi Ishii.
__________________
There are many paths to freedom....not all are peaceful.
Pffff that ending kinda made wodner if the fight was real or not. That Japanese dude is a former sumo fighter and now he is a pro wrestler.
The fight looked real, but wtf with the afterward???
The Tim Sylvia fight was MMA or it was pro wrestling???
I think it was a legit fight, but the sumo just had no business being in there with someone who actually trains mma. That sumo outfit is horrible.
__________________
Quote:
Mr. MMA News Poster, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever read. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone at this forum site is now dumber for having read it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.
-The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.
I think it was a legit fight, but the sumo just had no business being in there with someone who actually trains mma. That sumo outfit is horrible.
I agree with everything you said except for the outfit part. I wish I could pull off a sumo-cornrows combo like that. Oh well, not all dreams can come true.
Mirko Cro Cop earns quick submission win in return to MMA 
Linear Mode
