Mirko Cro Cop vs. Mauro Ranallo
Commentating fights is one thing, but Mauro Ranallo almost found himself in a fight with Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic back in the PRIDE era thanks to a prank set up by his co-commentator Bas Rutten.
Ranallo had already admitted he was intimidated by Cro Cop, who was known in the media to be difficult to deal with, and things quickly went bad in the interview when the fighter mentioned he was unhappy with critical remarks made by Ranallo in his last fight.
The bemused Ranallo repeatedly said that he hadn’t even commentated on that fight, but Cro Cop insisted he had and became increasingly agitated about it.
The rattled Ranallo left after Cro Cop said he didn’t want to continue and then looked worried when Rutten and other members of the backstage crew tried to convince him that it was ok to go back and finish up the interview.
Back in the room Cro Cop became even more annoyed with Ranallo and took the mic off him before escorting him back outside, then left him to sweat for another minute before finally coming out and confronting him again, before telling him it was all just a joke.
