Mirko Cro Cop was beaten by Roy Nelson in October at UFC 137 in what was his last UFC fight after a storied career in Pride.
Now Cro Cop is moving on from the UFC and is rehabilitating from a serious arm surgery. In an interview with Fight Channel, Cro Cop said he had found out about his arm injury 10 days before his fight with Nelson.
Cro Cop is now in a cast for his right arm and won’t have it removed until at least late-December. After that though, Cro Cop already has plans for his return; not to mixed martial arts though, but to his first love: kickboxing.
“K-1 is the sport where I started,” Cro Cop said. “This is my first love and I find K-1 more attractive and more suitable for our Croatian fans than MMA.”
Cro Cop hasn’t fought in a kickboxing match since 2003 and since then has had a legendary career in MMA. Although his hype ended when he came to the UFC, Cro Cop apologized yet again for that failure.
“I’m really sorry that I did not achieve my goals in that organization and I didn’t fulfill their expectations,” Cro Cop said. “They paid me very well. I’m really sorry about that. I gave it my best shot. I was a professional and did my best to prepare for every fight, but after PRIDE Grand Prix, to be honest, I didn’t have motivation to go on.”
The opponent has yet to be announced for the Croatian kickboxing and MMA legend, but one can only assume it would be someone easy, as he is returning to the striking-only sport and has been knocked out three straight times in MMA action.
Cro Cop’s injury was allegedly due to over-training and for his next fight in K-1, he isn’t going to slow down.
“This fire in me will last forever,” Cro Cop said. “This is not just some fight to me. Like every time, I will prepare like it’s the most important fight in my life.”
Good luck to Cro Cop against whomever he fights.
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