By Elton Hobson
Among the many disappointments that have plagued the last act of Mirko Filipovic’s career, there has been a revelation: the man is actually pretty funny.
In recent months, we’ve definitely seen a sillier side of Cro Cop come out (there’s a sentence I never thought I’d write). Owe it to Pat Berry, who brought out a lot of the Croatian’s sense of humour in the lead up to their fight. And today in the UFC 119 Media Conference Call, it was the K-1 veteran’s penchant for dry humour that again shone.
“As soon as we touch the ground, I will tap right away.” a half irritated, half amused Filipovic dryly remarked in response to repeated questioning about how his ground game stack up against that of Mir.
Oh, I almost forgot - Frank Mir was there as well. Usually the center of attention, the BJJ Black Belt and submission artist was instead restrained and respectful.
“Fighting Mirko, once I heard about that challenge, regardless of what people say and his notoriety in America, I know who he is so I like the idea of the challenge. I realize he is a dangerous opponent and a former PRIDE superstar so I was very motivated by the idea.”
And so a conference call that might have been an ugly exchange based on escalating remarks from both camps in recent weeks is instead a casual exchange between respected veterans. Highlights below.
Mirko “Cro Cop”
On preparing for Frank Mir’s submission game: “Of course Frank is a more experienced grappler then I am, but don’t forget I’ve been training Jiu-Jitsu for 10 years. I’m not sure I’m the same level of grappler as Frank, Frank is maybe the best grappler in the UFC today. Definitely I won’t try my luck with him on the ground.”
Where does his see himself career wise?: “I will keep fighting as long as I feel good, but any fight could be my last one. Maybe this fight with Frank could be my last one, maybe I’ll do three more fights, I don’t know.”
Is he starting to feel ill-effects from age or ring mileage?: “I’ve had a long career and I don’t think many of those fighters have had as many fights as I have. I’ve had altogether 33 K-1 fights, altogether 37 MMA fights, and 44 amateur boxing fights…Since I turned 36, any new injury would definitely take me out of the competition.”
On taking this fight with only 5 weeks notice: “At the end of the day, it’s my problem. I take the responsibility on my back…it is nothing. After 20 years of training, I think I should be ready.
On a possible future opponent: “I prefer to stay concentrated on this particular fight, later on we will see. I don’t like to think in the category ‘if’.”
Frank Mir:
His thoughts on Mirko’s ground game: “I think maybe he does well in submission grappling tournaments. As far how he correlates [his ground game] to MMA, he just hasn’t had enough time I think to really do well. If you give Mirko a choice, he’s gonna choose to keep the fight on the feet.”
Does he feel comfortable standing with “Cro Cop?”: I feel comfortable in all aspects and areas of fighting right now. As far as far as am I relaxed enough to allow him to fire off one of those kicks to my body or head? No.”
Is he continuing to add bulk for this fight as in previous fights?: “Right now, I’m walking around between 250-255, depending on what I had for dinner the night before. Whereas in the past, I had been obsessed with the larger I am, the more advantage I have in the Octagon. I looked at how I operate, how my style of fighting works in particular, and it wasn’t an advantage…For this camp, I’m not trying to force myself to be a certain size, and just let my weight fall where it falls.”
On the late change of opponents: “It was a drastic change as far as opponents, right handed to left handed, a decent boxer to someone who truly has knockout power, and a ground guy vs. a guy who doesn’t want to get to the ground.”
On improving his wrestling game: “It’s the one aspect of my game overall that I’ve tried to improve on the most. That one area, with the Cain Velasquezs, the Shane Carwins, the Brock Lesnars [at heavyweight]. Then you watch other weight divisions and you see guys with strong wrestling, [Georges] St. Pierre, Chael Sonnen, Rashad Evans. Statistically, these guys are more successful.”
On a possible fight with Randy Couture: “I have the utmost respect for Randy, I’ve trained for Randy, and I think he’s a pain to have to fight for anybody. If the opportunity came to fight Randy, I obviously think he’s a legend. We’re all fighters…I don’t know if I could come in everyday to train that I’m going to inflict damage on Randy Couture and try to do so.”
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