The Demise of Mirko Cro Cop

[Turd Ferguson]

Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic says he was so upset after losing to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103 that he felt like hanging himself in his hotel room afterwards.

“I was very, very disturbed after the loss to Dos Santos. I was in such a state that I wished to hang myself in my hotel room so I would be gone," he said in an interview with Croatian site Nokaut this week. “Three losses in my last seven fights is nothing but a disaster to me. That’s a terrible score and I’m not happy about it"

Filipovic also revealed that he has been in touch with sports psychologists about getting help with his mindset. He freely admits that his problems in the UFC cage have been as much mental as physical.

"I already know some things that I did wrong both in the fight and in the preparation for the fight, but there are many questions that remain to be answered. I am seriously thinking about hiring a psychiatrist to help me out. I have already made some calls about it.“

The Croatian heavyweight says he does not have “the right kind of motivation any more” but is at a loss to explain why. But he is adamant that he is not fighting for the money, saying he is “financially secure” for life after making some wise investments.

“If someone offered me millions of dollars to quit my career right now I would not accept it,” he said. “[Fighting] is my life and I don’t know any other way to live."

Regarding his performance against Dos Santos, Filipovic said that he “screwed up” and was not looking to make excuses. But he said that jet lag may have played a part, and repeated something he said earlier this week, that he had to have an ice bath to wake his body up shortly before heading to the Octagon.

Immediately after the Dos Santos loss, Filipovic was distraught and was talking about retiring immediately. But in the cold light of day he reconsidered, and now says he is determined to complete his UFC contract.

"I will make some changes in my training, because I wish to fight twice more in the UFC. I am a fighter, and I will find the motivation and strength I need," he said.

Well, the question of how he's going to perform in these next two fights comes right to the forefront. I do think that the UFC at this point needs to handle him with kid gloves. Yes, there's absolutely no reason to think that he would ever get a title, or even come close, but he's still a MMA legend, and a top draw. His fanbase is still huge in Europe as well. Seeing that he wanted to hang himself after the Dos Santos fight... Jesus Christ, that is depressing.

I think the UFC should basically give him two scrubs and let him go out on a good note. Give him one scrub, but also give him a chance at one last marquee matchup in a fight with Kimbo Slice. If Kimbo somehow won, it would give him a lot of credibility. If Kimbo loses, Cro Cop gets to go out on a very high note, and it would be a fight that would make the UFC a lot of money.

 

[jmt225]

I've said it here before, but it's the cage that completely messes up CroCop's game and the reason he has the losses to Gonzaga and Kongo. Put those fights in a ring, and CroCop crushes them. Why? Well, a ring is much smaller than the UFC's cage, so fighters are able to run around, dodge, and find different openings against their opponent. In a ring, it was very hard to escape CroCop. There just isn't enough room, but in the UFC... there is more than enough room, and that completely takes away CroCop's advantages. People know not to go straight up with him, so he has to chase and be more defensive than he likes to be, and it's hard for him to catch someone like that.

Now, someone is bound to say... "Well, jmt... what about CroCop's fight against Overeem?" To answer that... Overoid is just better than CroCop. Simple as that. However, there aren't many others who are, inside a ring anyway.

But yeah... I'm really rooting for CroCop in his next two fights. I don't care who they're against; I really, really want to see the guy rebound from this and end his career on a high note.

 

[The Prototype]

First off that's depressing that CroCop would feel like killing himself after losing the Dos Santos fight. It's just a sport. But on the fight side of things, I agree with jmt. The cage is a restriction for Mirko. I'm not sure UFC is right for CroCop.