Cro Cop comes from behind to avenge loss to Gonzaga in main event rematch
He had to wait eight long years, but Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic managed to avenge his 2007 KO loss to Gabriel Gonzaga Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Krakow, Poland. The kickboxer came from behind to beat Gonzaga with ground strikes and earn a TKO at 3:30 of the third round.
"We believed, really we believed, that the third round would be the last one," he said in his post-fight interview with Dan Hardy.
Heading into the third round, it appeared more likely that if the heavyweight main event were to end in that period, Gonzaga would be the winner. For two rounds, Gonzaga dominated Cro Cop by taking him down, mounting him and force-feeding him punch and elbow after punch and elbow.
The 40-year-old was saved by the horn at the end of the first and second rounds while mounted. At the end of the second round, he ate a mean short right elbow strike from the Brazilian, and his left eye immediately began to swell and bleed big.
In the third, Gonzaga once again pressed Filipovic backward. Cro Cop refused to give in, even while pressed against the fence, and as soon as he created a few inches of space, he used the moment of separation to land a left elbow strike to the right temple of Gonzaga.
The Croatian followed up that strike with another left elbow, this time to the back of Gonzaga's head. The Brazilian Jiu Jitsu champion was out of it from then on, though he attempted to hang on to Filipovic's arm for some time.
Eventually, however, he fell after eating follow-up punches from Cro Cop. Gonzaga managed to pull a full guard, but it did him no good in his dazed state. Cro Cop smelled blood and zoned in with punches and elbows from inside the full guard until Gonzaga opened up his legs and collapsed to his left side.
Cro Cop ended the fight with right hammer fist strikes as Gonzaga covered his face and took the strikes without tapping out. The ref stepped in and called a halt to the contest.
"Two rounds doesn't matter," Filipovic said of the deficit he overcame to earn the victory.
"Win or lose, just stay calm."
In this fight, and over a hall of fame-worthy career, Cro Cop has done just that. The win is Filipovic's third straight and comes in his first UFC bout since a 2011 loss to Roy Nelson.
His pro MMA record now stands at 31-11-2. Gonzaga's loss was his third straight in the UFC, and his record dips to 16-10.
Asked if fans will get to see him in the cage again, Cro Cop said, "Of course." The former special forces soldier and member of Croatia's parliament said that after a short break, he'll be back where he's most comfortable -- the gym.
"Maybe one or two weeks I will take a rest," he said.
"Then, training again."
