Mirko Cro Cop
At the peak of his MMA career Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic was famed for being a deadly kickboxer with thunderous knockout power in his kicks, and indeed he also found considerable success competing in K-1 kickboxing too over the years.
In fact, Cro Cop’s kickboxing career actually pre-dates his MMA one, with his first ever fight coming against another legend, Jerome Le Banner at the K-1 Grand-Prix all the way back in 1996, which he won by unanimous decision.
However, things didn’t always go his way during his 26-8 kickboxing run, and the one man in particular who proved to be a thorn in his flesh was another decorated star of that era, Ernesto Hoost.
In only his second career fight, Cro Cop fought Hoost for the first time and ‘Mr Perfect’ put on a leg kick clinic as he continually chopped away at the Croatian fighter’s back leg in a ruthless fashion that by the third round left him in such pain that he was unable to continue, resulting in a KO finish.
Three years later the two would meet again in the final of the 1999 K-1 Grand-Prix and this time Cro Cop came out more aggressive, but Hoost remained clinical, fropping him with a body shot and then when he rose back up picked out a perfect liver shot to seal another third round KO victory.
