(via Getty.)
It’s been a long, strange journey for Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic — one full of ups, downs, and plenty of bumps and bruises along the way. From his incredible one-night performance at the 2006 Pride Open Weight Tournament, to his retirement from the sport in 2011, to his return to the UFC and redemptive victory over Gabriel Gonzaga, Mirko Cro Cop will forever be remembered as one of the sport’s most iconic figures and a trailblazer in the defining age of mixed martial arts.
And today, it looks like that trail has finally come to an end.
Scheduled to take on Anthony Hamilton in the co-main event of UFC Seoul on November 28th, Cro Cop announced this morning that he had suffered a shoulder injury in training, then abruptly re-retired.
Cro Cop broke the news via his Facebook page (translation via BloodyElbow):
I tried to save my shoulder injury and repair in all possible ways. Daily therapies, injections of blood plasma and various cocktails of drugs. [Because of] daily training, the injury only worsened. Part of my muscle snapped, my shoulder has a lot of fluid, and the greatest danger is that the tendon ruptured, and then again in the operation.
Even more unfortunate was the follow-up statement Filipovic released on his website, which confirmed that the injury was much more than a temporary setback in the 2015-2016 Cro Cop Revenge Tour.
I am aware that I have come to the end of my martial times, but training with pain I want no longer. My body is battered by countless trainings, I collected nine operations, the body has become prone to injury, after each workout I put ice on my knee operated on because it’s filled with fluid, therapies twice a week. The next fight would be 80th professional and that is a lot, especially in the competition: K-1, Pride, IGF, UFC. The biggest problem will be my adaptation to “civilian life”, without two workouts a day and the eternal journey around the world, and that whouldn’t fall so hard. I will train as long as I live because it’s my life, but not at this rate and I’m glad in some way.
This is not a temporary decision because I was unhappy due to all of that, but it’s my final decision and it’s best for me. Sooner or later the time comes when a man has to think on the health. I had a really long and great career and I believe I left a deep mark in the martial arts, in a free fight and in K-1 and I have no regrets. Thanks to everyone who followed me and supported me, but for me there remains beautiful memories.
We’ve already paid tribute to Cro Cop on more occasion than one, so we’ll simply wrap things up by congratulating Mirko on all he’s accomplished, both in and outside of the cage. It’d be hard to think of a more fitting way for him to go out than with a victory over the man who derailed his career some 8 years ago, and we hope that Mirko finds happiness in whatever awaits him next.
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