Legendary Croatian fighter Mirko Filipović, who you might know better as Cro Cop, has announced his retirement from the ring.
"It's over, I hope I'm not going to cry, but that'sit, next is my inevitable retirement," Mirko Filipović said to Dnevnik Nova TV on Friday, March 1, 2019, and concluded his magnificent career.
Legendary Croatian fighter Mirko Filipović, who you might know better as Cro Cop, has announced his retirement from the ring.The legendary fighter came to the Nova TV studio two weeks after his big victory against Roy Nelson, but instead of announcing new battles, he shocked the entire public.
"I had a stroke, bleeding in the brain, and I came out of the hospital today, and that's why I wanted to come here to let people see that I was healthy. I had incredible luck in the accident, that leak could have gone left and right. I had a vein discomfort, and it erupted from a mechanical stimulus. This has nothing to do with fighting, just that the neck is overloaded. I now have to fight for life,” Mirko said.
"I had problems with my neck, and I was hurting in the last two or three months. I noticed it while I was driving in reverse. When I went to the MRI, everything was OK. I thought it had to be so. The next three months I cannot do any training. Whatever training I do, another stroke would be deadly. I'll be disciplined now, I have the medicines I need to take, and I'll be disciplined.
“I’ll never enter the ring again, and I cannot let someone hit me. In three months, I will train with boxing bags. As for fighting, that is no longer an option. Unfortunately, no one wanted this end, but that's the way it is,” Cro Cro Cop said.
The news comes just two weeks after Cro Cop defeated Roy Nelson at the Bellator 216, where he won in the highly anticipated rematch against Nelson.
Cro Cop first posted a photo of his wrist with a hospital band on his Instagram page on Friday, which was followed by the announcement just a few hours later.
Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipović is known as one of the most beloved fighters in the history of the sport. He retires with a 38-11-2 (1 NC) professional MMA record. Thank you, Cro Cop, for an incredible 25-year career.
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