It seems former PRIDE and UFC heavyweight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (23-6-2) is not enjoying his self-imposed sabbatical from mixed martial arts thanks to current Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (28-11).
"Demolition Man" -- who submitted Mark Hunt last week at DREAM 5 -- has accused the Croatian of ducking him on more than one occasion and apparently Cro Cop has had enough.
From the Croat's official blog:
I was asked by the members of media if I'm willing to fight Overeem since he challenged me twice already...I'm happy to accept his challenge and I'm looking forward to this fight as I believe that we can deliver an entertaining fight. Now it's up to DREAM to make this fight happen, I'm ready to face my challenger on the next show already.
Cro Cop hasn’t competed since DREAM 1 back in March after being fed Tatsuya Mizuno in his much ballyhooed debut. He was penciled in to face Jerome LeBanner at DREAM 4, until it was switched to a bizarre grappling match against Ralek Gracie - pushing the LeBanner fight to DREAM 5 on the 21.
After Lebanner went AWOL and his injuries started acting up, Filipovic bailed on DREAM 5, instead opting to sit on the sidelines and rebuild his aging body after having arthroscopy earlier this month.
Some fans have been less than sympathetic.
I see many people speaking about me as a washed-up fighter but this is just another boost to my motivation. I'm working hard to get back on track and meeting and defeating strong competitors in the ring is all that I think of nowadays.
Hopefully Cro Cop has one last run in him. He's a gifted striker who can easily compete with any top ten heavyweight, but his tenure in the UFC left many wondering if his best days were behind him.
If Cro Cop can indeed return to action against the resurgent Overeem at DREAM 6 in September, we may have the answer sooner rather than later.
Thanks to MMAmaniac "John" for the assist.
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