Penick's Take
PENICK: Mirko Cro Cop's path back to heavyweight relevance fast tracked with UFC 119 opportunity against Frank Mir
Aug 16, 2010 - 7:30:15 PM PENICK: Mirko Cro Cop's path back to heavyweight relevance fast tracked with UFC 119 opportunity against Frank Mir

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic is stepping up on short notice to fight Frank Mir next month at UFC 119 in Indianapolis, Indiana. For a fighter who has twice vocalized a desire to retire in the last year, Cro Cop's participation in this fight is quite interesting, and gives him an opportunity to push himself right back into the upper echelon of the division.

Cro Cop didn't have a good first run in the UFC. After his legendary fights in Pride, Cro Cop entered the Octagon for the first time in February of 2007. The UFC wanted to build to a fight with Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture later that year after Couture defeated Tim Sylvia in March, but Cro Cop was knocked out cold by Gabriel Gonzaga in the fight that would have set up their title clash. After dropping a decision to Cheick Kongo, where he suffered a number of low blows that went unpunished, he was released and didn't appear in the organization for another two years.

After a successful return against Mostapha Al-Turk, Cro Cop hit a lowpoint in a fairly one sided fight against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103. He was very much off his game that night, and after submitting due to an eye injury in the third round, the Croatian superstar appeared to be finished. He opined about losing his motivation to fight, but decided to return to action earlier this year.

Initially scheduled to take on Ben Rothwell at UFC 110 in Australia, Cro Cop ended up facing Anthony Perosh on short notice when Rothwell was forced off the card with an illness days before the fight. Perosh was outclassed in the fight, and Cro Cop fought tentatively, and the fight was stopped in the third when Cro Cop opened a gash on Perosh's forehead.

Cro Cop then returned again this June in Vancouver at UFC 115 in the last fight on his UFC contract against Pat Barry. In a highly entertaining fight, Cro Cop survived two vicious knockdowns from Barry in the first round, coming back to take the fight over in the second and submit Barry by rear naked choke in the third.

Cro Cop again discussed retirement after the fight, though this time it would be to go out on a high note. But that thought didn't last long, and before Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira pulled out of UFC 119 with an injury this weekend, Barry stated in an interview that Cro Cop was looking at a November return.

But now the Croatian finds himself in the biggest fight of his UFC career. Frank Mir is two fights removed from a Heavyweight Championship fight, and though he was dismantled by Shane Carwin in March he remains one of the top heavyweight fighters in the sport.

Cro Cop will come into this fight as the underdog, and in all reality this matchup is a massively difficult fight for him. Mir's ground skills are much, much better than Mirko's, and his striking is good, though not great. Cro Cop can certainly do some damage to Mir while standing, but at 35 Cro Cop's reflexes and reaction time are slowing and that could be enough for Mir to drop him like Barry was able to at UFC 115.

Still, there is a lot of upside for Cro Cop. It will be the first fight of a new deal, his first UFC pay-per-view headlining fight, and a legitimate opportunity to return to relevance in the top of the heavyweight division.

Make no mistake about it, Mirko Cro Cop can win this fight. He cannot be counted out no matter how favored Mir may be coming into September 25. And the most amazing part of this matchup is the fact that he could find himself back in title contention once all is said and done.

Cro Cop had a lowpoint in his career not one year ago, and to progress from fighting Perosh to Barry and now Mir in the span of seven months is remarkable. If he can pull of the underdog win it will be one of the great success stories of 2010. Plenty will be pulling for Cro Cop in this fight, and though he may be a longshot to win, this is a fight he couldn't pass up.

RELATED STORY: UFC NEWS: Rodrigo Nogueira out of UFC 119 main event; Cro Cop to replace him: [CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE]