A legend returned with redemption on his mind at UFC Fight Night 64.
The UFC marked its inaugural stop in Poland by reigniting the fuse on one of the biggest upsets in the history of the heavyweight division, as Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic squared off with Gabriel Gonzaga in the main event from Krakow on Saturday. Nearly eight years had passed since Napao shocked the MMA world by flattening the Croatian powerhouse with a perfectly timed head kick to earn a stunning knockout in the first round of their tilt at UFC 70 back in 2007.
While the Brazilian grappling ace would go on to compete for the heavyweight crown in his next outing, both fighters experienced mixed results following their collision in Manchester, England. Filipovic and Gonzaga would each be cut from the UFC in the ensuing years, only to return in hopes of regaining their traction on the sport’s biggest stage.
Their meeting at Fight Night 64 came with high stakes: The winner would remain relevant in the divisional fold, while the loser would be pushed into obscurity. Filipovic had lost three straight before being let go by the UFC back in 2011, and Gonzaga came into Saturday having dropped back-to-back outings inside the Octagon. Neither fighter could afford another setback, and it was the former Pride Grand Prix winner who got the job done on Saturday.
Although Filipovic appeared to be running out of gas in the third round, the legendary striker landed a short elbow in the clinch that put Gonzaga on wobbly legs. Once Filipovic was able to get free, he unleashed a torrent of elbows from top position that forced the referee stop the fight, which gave the 40-year-old veteran his first victory inside the Octagon since 2010.
Let’s take a look at the good, bad and strange from Fight Night 64.
The Good
There was a time when Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was one of the most feared heavyweight fighters on the planet.
While those days have come and gone, the former K-1 Grand Prix winner and Pride veteran was determined to prove he has plenty of fight left in him. After being released from the UFC in 2011, the Croatian striker had to earn his way back to the biggest stage in MMA, and he did so by finding victory in three of his four showings outside of the Octagon.
The legendary heavyweight returned to face Gabriel Gonzaga at Fight Night 64 in an effort to pay the Brazilian back for besting him in their first meeting back in 2007. While Filipovic was unable to brand Napao with the same caliber of highlight-reel material the grappling ace handed out in the first fight, he found redemption all the same.
Filipovic stunned Gonzaga with a pair of standing elbows early in the third round and then put a stamp on his work with a flurry of elbows from top position to end the fight and claim victory. And while it wasn’t a rock-solid performance from start to finish, it was certainly enough to prove he’s as game as they come.
His win over Gonzaga on Saturday was his first successful UFC showing since 2010 when he defeated Pat Barry via rear-naked choke at UFC 115. It all but guarantees the head-kick master will get another chance to compete under the UFC banner.
Even though he’s not the Cro Cop of years past, the savvy veteran still put away a top-20 heavyweight at Fight Night 64. If nothing else, that’s an impressive accomplishment to add to a resume that has spanned 14 years and already features a who’s who of the best heavyweights.
*** After more than a year away from the Octagon, Jimi Manuwa made a triumphant return against Jan Blachowicz on Saturday. Poster Boy suffered the first loss of his professional career to Alexander Gustafsson 13 months ago in London, and the British powerhouse was determined to get back into the win column at Fight Night 64. While the bout wasn’t the shootout many figured it to be, Manuwa was the aggressor, landing the cleaner shots throughout the three-round tilt to pick up the unanimous-decision victory.
*** It was a wild fight from start to finish, but Pawel Pawlak did enough to beat Sheldon Westcott in main card action. The rangy welterweight gave his hometown crowd something to cheer about as he went toe-to-toe with The Ultimate Fighter: Nations finalist every step of the 15-minute affair. Pawlak rocked Westcott on several occasions but was unable to put the hard-charging Canadian away. In addition to earning his first win under the UFC banner, Pawlak could well be at the front of the line for a Performance of the Night bonus as well.
*** Judging by the buzz leading up to fight night, Maryna Moroz was supposed to be Joanne Calderwood’s steppingstone to a title shot against Joanna Jedrzejczyk later this year. Apparently, no one informed the UFC newcomer, who put Calderwood away in less than two minutes. Moroz came out swinging and dotted JoJo up with several shots before she pulled guard and locked in the fight-ending armbar. She then put a cap on an impressive debut by throwing out a challenge to the champion, who was sitting cageside Saturday.
*** There is making a statement, and there is making a statement in eight seconds the way Leon Edwards did at Fight Night 64. Rocky lived up to his nickname by starching veteran Seth Baczynski with a straight shot that blew up the Arizona native and crumpled him to the canvas. The British welterweight put one more shot on his opponent before the referee jumped in to stop the fight.
Edwards not only picked up the victory but earned the second-fastest knockout in the history of the UFC’s welterweight division. That’s an impressive feat by any measure, but especially so with Edwards being a 23-year-old prospect on the rise.
*** Coming into his bout with Damian Stasiak at Fight Night 64, Yaotzin Meza had found victory in only one of his past four appearances inside the cage. He needed a victory to get things back on track and was willing to jump into a higher weight class in order to make that happen. The MMA Lab product returned to the featherweight ranks for the first time since 2012 on Saturday, and the decision paid off as he used his grappling advantage to control Stasiak en route to the unanimous-decision victory.
*** There wasn’t anything pretty about it, but Anthony Hamilton got things back on track on Saturday. The Jackson/Winkeljohn-trained fighter bested Daniel Omielanczuk in a bout that went the distance on the preliminary portion of the card. While both fighters ran out of gas fairly quickly, The Freight Train had more to offer late. He has now won two of his last three showings inside the Octagon.
*** While the opening round was a bit sluggish between female strawweights Aleksandra Albu and Izabela Badurek, Stitch got things working her way early in the second frame. The wiry Russian caught Badurek as she attempted to shoot in for the takedown and locked in a tight guillotine choke that forced the tap. Albu’s victory at Fight Night 64 not only marked an impressive debut but officially carved out her place in the crowded ranks of the 115-pound collective.
The Bad
Consistency is one of the most difficult things to achieve at the highest level of combat sports, and it’s something Gonzaga continues to struggle with.
Napao was once a former title challenger and an elite UFC heavyweight, but the past eight years have not been kind. After a tough run where he found success in only three out of eight fights, the UFC released the Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace in 2010. He was determined to fight his way back to UFC and did so in short fashion, as it only took him one victory outside of the Octagon to earn another call from the biggest promotion in MMA.
In doing so, Gonzaga was focused on keeping his reacquired roster position. When he picked up wins in his first two bouts upon returning to the UFC, things looked promising, but his momentum took a huge hit when he suffered a knockout against Travis Browne in the first round of their tilt at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale in June 2013. While he would rebound to collect back-to-back wins in his next two appearances, consistency issues came to call once more, as he tallied two more in the loss column.
Those circumstances created an ample amount of pressure heading into his bout with Mirko Filipovic at Fight Night 64, as the Team Link fighter could ill-afford a third consecutive loss. Unfortunately for Gonzaga, that’s exactly what transpired. The loss to Filipovic spells the first time in Gonzaga’s career where he lost three in a row, and it will undoubtedly put his back against the wall in the heavyweight picture.
Gonzaga has been the unofficial gatekeeper in the heavyweight division for years, but unless he can turn things around in his next fight, someone else will assume the role by the end of 2015.
*** Coming into Saturday’s card in Krakow, few fighters needed a victory more than Baczynski. The Polish Pistola had dropped four of his past five heading into his bout with Leon Edwards and desperately needed to turn things around to keep his spot on the crowded welterweight roster. Furthermore, The Ultimate Fighter alum campaigned to be put on the card because he had long coveted competing in front of a Polish crowd; that set the stage for a crucial show and a prove-it moment in his career.
Unfortunately for Baczynski, Fight Night 64 was disastrous. The Power MMA representative’s night ended just as soon as it began, as Rocky put him away within 10 seconds of the opening bell. Edwards dropped Baczynski with a straight shot right down the pipe and then finished the bout with one more punch while Baczynski was on the canvas. With the loss, the 33-year-old Arizona-based fighter has now dropped three consecutive fights and five of his last six inside the Octagon.
The Strange
Oh, what a difference one week and a card filled with recognizable talent makes.
Last Saturday, fight fans were jazzed up about kicking off their day with an action-packed card at Fight Night (Day) 63 in Fairfax, Virginia. While the event didn’t necessarily register in the stacked category, enough fighters with solid profiles were throwing leather inside the cage to garner the attention of fight fans, who were more than happy to be getting their UFC fix in a mid-afternoon time slot.
That said, whatever collective feeling circulated on April 4 was nowhere to be found on April 11.
Yet, to be completely fair, the two cards were entirely different animals. Where Fight Night 63 was a Fox Sports 1 card with a mixture of established veterans and anchored with a crucial bout in the featherweight title hunt between Chad Mendes and Ricardo Lamas, none of those elements existed for the UFC’s official debut on Polish soil. Although those details are initially alarming, the UFC has a different model when handling events that air on Fight Pass.
Whereas cards that are domestically televised in the United States are typically lined with familiar names and at least a few important divisional matchups, the UFC takes a different approach with events in new or growing markets. Much like previous Fight Pass cards in Singapore and Berlin, the promotion will set a high-profile main event and then fill out the rest of the lineup with region-specific fighters.
That was certainly the case at Fight Night 64, and it just so happened that few outside of media or extreme diehard fight fans knew anything about the fighters on the preliminary portion of the card. When a lukewarm main event is added to that mix, the formula for a rough go is set, and that seemed to be the case, judging from the MMA community’s reaction to the card across social media platforms.
Nevertheless, Saturday’s card in Poland had its moments, but a casual fan who may have tuned in this Saturday and last would have walked away with two totally different takes. Then again, the varying platforms and the way the cards were structured were set that way for a reason, and it is up to fight fans to make what they will of these circumstances.
It will be interesting to see if the UFC continues to use these methods going forward in the creation of cards on the digital network, or if the organization will look to punch things up on Fight Pass toward the end of 2015.
Duane Finley is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. All quotes are obtained firsthand unless noted otherwise.
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