Mirko Cro Cop
Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic achieved legendary status during his time in the PRIDE organization, but he struggled to make the same impact afterwards in the UFC.
His second stint was particularly hard to watch seeing him get knocked out by Frank Mir and Brendan Schaub, followed by a TKO loss to Roy Nelson.
Cro Cop left the UFC and seemd on the verge of quitting MMA, but over a year later he returned to action with fights in Japan and Russia that saw him pick up a win and a loss, while also managing to win K-1’s World Grand-Prix 2012 in kickboxing.
Approaching 40-years-old the star found his second wind and would go on to win an IGF Championship in Japan with back-to-back wins over Satoshi Ishii and then return to the UFC to avenge an infamous head kick loss to Gabriel Gonzaga.
Going back to Japan, Cro Cop’s winning streak was extended further by winning Rizin’s 2016 World Grand-Prix, which included a TKO victory over Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal.
Two more wins in Rizin followed before signing for Bellator and avenging another old loss to Roy Nelson.
At 44-years-old Cro Cop was now on a 10-fight winning streak, but the fight with Nelson had taken a tragic toll on him as he’d suffer from a stroke afterwards and due to a neck injury was advised never to fight again.
