Cro Cop talks about UFC 115, his past, and future in the UFC
Mirko Filipovic (27-7-2 MMA, 4-3 UFC) not only took a second lease on his UFC career with a victory over Pat Barry (5-2 MMA, 2-2 UFC) at Saturday's UFC 115, but he's also debuted a new side of himself the funny "Cro Cop."
Filipovic walked into the arena to his favorite entrance song, "Wild Boys" from Duran Duran. But instead of wearing his usual look a slightly pained grimace during his cage walk, Filipovic flashed something completely new: a smile.
The former PRIDE champion opened up on Wednesday during an open workout promoting the event and hasn't closed up since.
"I get a punch in the right place, obviously," Filipovic joked at the UFC 115 post-event press conference while pointing to his head.
Filipovic shocked the crowd with a "Submission of the Night" victory over Barry. The submission win was the Croatian's first such victory in nearly six years. It was about as cordial a fight as you could get, and at one point the two met in the center of the cage to hug in mid-fight.
Filipovic said he pulled back at one point during the fight when Barry got a digit stuck in the cage fence because he didn't want to take an unfair advantage. But the respect didn't slow his attack, nor did he believe it slowed Barry's.
"He's still fighting for a [fistful] of dollars, and those kind of fighters are hungry," Filipovic said. "I can talk to you until one minute before the fight, and I will do my best to take your head off if I can."
The hug-fest drove UFC president Dana White crazy, as he later told MMAjunkie.com , but the exec said he'll still meet with Filipovic to negotiate a new contract.
"We're going to talk to Mirko and see what Mirko wants to do," White said. "Mirko has said to me and (UFC co-owner) Lorenzo (Fertitta) that he wants to finish his career here, so we plan on him finishing his career with the UFC."
Many fans wrote Filipovic off after a handful of lackluster performances against top UFC competition. Losses to Gabriel Gonzaga, Cheick Kongo and Junior Dos Santos showed a fighter that was a shell of his former self. But despite admitting he was motivated almost solely by money during that dark period, "Cro Cop" said he was not ready to throw in the towel despite earlier hints to the contrary.
"I wanted to prove to everyone that I'm not too old, and they are wrong," Filipovic said. "I've got to tell you my preparation for this fight was the hardest preparation in all my life."
So hard, in fact, that the heavyweight said he underwent X-rays on two separate occasions when he thought he broke his arm during hard sparring. He didn't, but he learned that he had been missing a key to career success: preparation.
Filipovic said a lack of sparring partners caused him to do most of his training against heavy bags. For this fight, he brought in two fighters from Amsterdam and sparred regularly with UFC regulation gloves.
"Punching bag is one thing, and sparring is another," he said.
As Barry expired in later rounds, "Cro Cop" came on stronger and landed a punch flurry that set up his submission victory.
"I think that was the key to the victory," Filipovic said. "I was full of energy."
And for the first time full of personality. During fight week, Filipovic several times busted up the press room with off-the-cuff jokes.
"I was always known as a guy who likes to skip (the press) if it's possible," Filipovic said. "I don't think it's maybe correct, and I just wanted to pay back for everything in the past.
"I don't like (doing press), but I took it seriously this time, and I think I was open enough."
White, who's used to dealing with moody fighters, said he is more than happy to see the change.
"I like the new Cro Cop very much," White said. "I like the new funny Mirko 'Cro Cop.'"
"I'm not a new one," Filipovic interrupted. "I was always like this, but I just didn't like to show it."
Due to a broken foot and hand, Barry was not present at the press conference. But that "Cro Cop" autograph he so desperately sought would be waiting at the hotel, according to Filipovic.
"I was too serious with the press conference," he said. "I should be open like this. I think people like it; the fans like it."
