Croatian heavyweight Mirko ‘Crop Cop’ Filipovi? will return to his kickboxing roots this coming March when he faces New Zealander ‘Sugar’ Ray Sefo at an upcoming show in Zagreb, Croatia.
Sefo announced the matchup on Twitter (@SugarRaySefo) this past weekend.
– Some news for you all my fight with Mirko Cro-Cop has been confirmed for March 10th!!!
– The fight will be a K-1 rule fight, it’s held in Zagreb Croatia I’m told it’ll be in front of 25,000 people
– The promotion is called Fight Channel Promotions it’s a TV Network in Croatia, the fight will be K-1 rules…
This will be ‘Cro Cop’s first professional bout since retiring this fall from mixed martial arts following a third round TKO loss to Roy Nelson at UFC 137. “I was treated like a king from the beginning. It’s in my best interest that this is my farewell fight, thanks everybody.”
As a kickboxer, Filipovi? (16-7) had his last pro bout back in 2003 at a K-1 World Grand Prix event in Japan where he earned a first round knockout over Bob Sapp. After that, the Croatian fighter moved onto mixed martial arts and joined the PRIDE organization full time.
Sefo (56-21-1) has kept his career mainly in the ring fighting for K-1 for many years. His most recent bout took place in 2010 at the K-1 World Grand Prix 2010 in Seoul Final 16, where he took a fight against Tyrone Spong on ten days notice. He would lose that bout by decision.
‘Suga’ has tried his hand at mma, going 2-1 with a loss to Valentijn Overeem one year ago at the Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Silva event. Sefo, who was last seen in the corner of Vitor Belfort earlier this month in Brazil, had been unsure of his future as a fighter but it appears that a chance to face ‘Cro Cop’ was an offer he couldn’t refuse.
The event will be conducted under K-1 rules but is being organized by the Fight Channel, a Croatian TV station. The event is named “K-1 Final Fight” and is expected to take place at the Zagreb Arena, which holds 24,000. An official announcement is expected to take place on Tuesday at the Sheraton Zagreb hotel.