Cro Cop to use top MMA sparring partner for 1st time
Cro Cop: “I never in my life prepared myself for a fight with a complete MMA fighter and a top one, especially a top one. That’s the key. Sparring is the key.”
Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Flipovic appeared recently on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, ahead of his rematch with Gabriel Gonzaga at UFC Fight Night 64 on April 11 in Krakow, Poland. Cro Cop revealed that he will be bringing in top UFC heavyweight Stipe Miocic to his camp. Miocic was born in the USA, but both his parents are Croatian immigrants. Cro Cop also said this was the first time he had a sparring partner who was a top MMA talent.
“I was always managing to have either top jiu-jitsu fighters or top kickboxers,” said Cro Cop as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMAfighting. “I never in my life prepared myself for a fight with a complete MMA fighter and a top one, especially a top one. That’s the key. Sparring is the key. You need to spar with complete MMA fighters.”
“The kickboxer doesn’t know how to take me down. The jiu-jitsu fighter doesn’t know how to punch me on the ground. I need a complete fighter who knows how to throw elbows on the ground, who knows how to do ground and pound. All those things are very important in an MMA fight.”
“He’s one extraordinary person. Really nice and humble guy and a top fighter. He’s really good and he’s young. Definitely a big future is front of him.”
“I just can’t go outside of Croatia to train,. I have two sons. I have a family here. It would definitely kill me, personally.
“There is huge benefits to training at a big camp, to have an opportunity to change sparring partners. It’s just not an option for me. I just can’t go out of Croatia.”
Miocic too has a fight coming up, vs. Mark Hunt at UFC Fight Night 65 on May 10 in Adelaide, Australia. While Miocic has beaten Gabriel Gonzaga by Unanimous Decision, Cro Cop holds a win over Hunt in K-1, and a split decision loss in Pride under MMA. So the pair should have a lot to talk about.