Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic vs. Ralek Gracie Grappling Match Booked For DREAM 4
PRIDE and UFC veteran Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will take on Ralek Gracie in a special grappling match at DREAM 4 on June 15th according to Nokaut.
According to the report the match will “take place under modified Abu Dhabi rules: two five-minute rounds with no point system. The only way to win will be via submission. Should the fight go the distance, it will be declared an automatic draw.”
A decorated striker, “Cro Cop” won the 2006 PRIDE Open-Weight Grand Prix and has faced some of the worlds best fighters defeating notables Josh Barnett, Wanderlei Silva, and Aleksander Emelianenko while suffering notable losses to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria, Fedor Emelianenko, Mark Hunt, and Kevin Randleman. After posting a UFC debut win over Eddie Sanchez, “Cro Cop” was defeated by Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo in back-to-back bouts. In his DREAM debut, Filipovic defeated Tatsuya Mizuno via first-round TKO in March.
Gracie is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and is 1-0 in his MMA career, defeating Katsuyori Shibata via first-round submission in his MMA debut at a HERO’s event in mid-2007.
Filipovic was originally scheduled to face Jerome LeBanner at DREAM 4 but that bout has been rescheduled for DREAM 5 in July.
For the latest DREAM rumors check out the MMAFrenzy.com rumors section.
Crop Cop in a grappling match? Not sure why he would agree to this at all, let alone against a black belt in BJJ.
Yeah Arnold, it’s an interesting booking to say the least.
Maybe he wants to prove that he actually learned some BJJ? I know he wasn’t even training ground before he was handed his loss to Gonzaga. That by his own admission. Buy anyhow I see him losing or possibly pulling out a draw. no way he wins.
The COP is done.. Just like TITO… time to pack it up… pee on the fire and call the dogs in…
I wonder what the betting odds are for Cro Cop to win. This sounds like a bad risky move for Cro Cop to me. Just fight MMA and call it a day. Nothing makes sense about this other than the Dream promotion trying to look “different” by having this style of match. Have they done this before?
thuwak talks crap! the only thing thats over is your career predictions, Randy showed us its not over til the fighter decides its over. Cro cop wont lose
I know Mirko is getting up there in age, but he’s still a really good fighter. Maybe he’s trying to harnest his skils, train hard in a specific area where his game is week and get better at it. This guy might not care about a win in this situation but might care about improving his game. And why not fight a world class BJJ guy to do that. I like the idea, win or loose. Get a few more fights under his belt and come back and claim the HW belt in the UFC. Right now, the HW title in the UFC is a joke!
Its all over, what a joke, grappaling??? He will get his ass handed back to him….
until cro cop shows us hes back to his best with a good win the jury is out, he got beat in the ufc by fighters who were big underdogs against him.i think he needs to show what he has left now and people shouldnt rate him as the cro cop of old till he does.
I think he is just looking for pay days. I mean if he loses to a guy with 1-0-0 record in Dream…..then pfffft……
Cro Cop had been training grappling for years. If you (brandon) actually think he just started after his Gonzaga fight, you are completely mistaken. The guy trained BJJ privately under under Werdum for a year and a half. He has been submitted once in his MMA career…I am pretty sure the guy knows how to grapple. His take-down defense is incredible, just look at the Mark Coleman or Randleman fights. Even Fedor had trouble at first taking Mirko down. Mirko will do quite well in this match I bet. My prediction is a draw.
What does cro-cop have to lose? will people think less of him if he loses to a top grappler in a grappleing only match?