PRIDE never die: Ranking the top 25 PRIDE fighters in history
By Chad Porto
2. Mirko Cro Cop
His birth name is Mirko Filipovic, but those who stood across from him called him Cro Cop, and did so with a stutter in their voice. The former Croatian police officer earned a reputation of being stoic, cold and brutal in ways that maybe only Wanderlei Silva can understand. Of his 38 career wins, 30 of them came via knockout. The former kickboxer was so proficient with his strikes, that he became feared for them. He came up with a saying that was so prolific that it’s still muttered today with reverence.
“Right leg hospital, left leg cemetery.”
Cro Cop’s head kicks were so brutal that the sound of the impact could be heard over roaring crowds. Crowds that could stifle and mute just about all sounds the fighters made. Just not the impact of Cro Cop’s head kicks. During his PRIDE run, he only lost four times. Once to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (Big Nog), Kevin Randleman, Fedor Emelianenko and his kickboxing rival, Mark Hunt.
Cro Cop would never win a major MMA title but did win two major Grand Prix’s. The first came in PRIDE, where he won the promotions Openweight Grand Prix. He’d then win a second Openweight Grand Prix for RIZIN, PRIDE’s spiritual successor.
Cro Cop’s PRIDE record is another whos-who of bad men. Victories over Josh Barnett, Ikuhisa Minowa, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, Alexander Emelianenko, Ron Waterman, Dos Caras Jr (Alberto Del Rio), Heath Herring, Kazushi Sakuraba and more all fell to Cro Cop.
He’d go to two draws against Wanderlei Silva and Nobuhiko Takada in his first two fights in his PRIDE career, before finishing his PRIDE career 18-4-2.
Cro Cop would go on to have an impressive second half of his career. After failing to stick the landing in the UFC, Cro Cop would go on to amass a 10-1 record following his UFC departure across the Inoki Genome Federation, RIZIN and Bellator. He was successfully putting together an impressive late run in his career, beating Satoshi Ishii, Gabriel Gonzaga, Muhammed Lawal, and Roy Nelson. Despite being in his mid-40’s, Cro Cop’s career was cut short after he suffered a seizure and was forced to retire in 2019.