Cro Cop vs. Gonzaga II on April 11 in Poland
A rematch between Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop will headline the UFC’s debut in Poland, with UFC Fight Night 64, on April 11. It will air on UFC Fight Pass.
When Cro Cop re signed with the UFC, some intelligent UGers suggested that the obvious fight back was a rematch with Gabriel ‘Napao’ Gonzaga. The first fight ended with what many consider to be the best head kick KO in UFC history. Cro Cop famously said “right kick hospital, left kick cemetary” but it was a right kick by a Brazilian that took out Filipovic when the pair fight fought in 2007.
The fight will headline the UFC’s debut in Poland, with UFC Fight Night 64, on April 11 at Krakow Arena. It will air on UFC Fight Pass.
Cro Cop, once widely considered to be among the top three fighters in Pride FC, saw his run in the UFC end after he lost consecutive fights to Frank Mir, Brendan Schaub, and Roy Nelson. Filipovic departed with a noble and moving apology to the UFC and to the fans that he had not met expectations. He went 3-1 fighting outside the league, and after Bellator MMA expressed public interest, was signed by the UFC not long afterwards.
The card streams live on UFC Fight Pass.
The 40-year-old Cro Cop Filipovic returns to the UFC for the first time since 2011. The Croatian kickboxer, who was once widely considered the second-best heavyweight (behind Fedor Emelianenko) in the world while fighting for PRIDE, didn’t fare as well while fighting for the UFC, eventually losing consecutive fights to Frank Mir, Brendan Schaub and Roy Nelson before exiting the promotion.
Since that time, Filipovic has gone 3-1 in Japan and Russia and now returns to the UFC just one week after Bellator officials revealed they would be interested in signing the striker.
Gonzaga went 3-1 in 2013, but lost both fights in 2014, to Matt Mitrione and Stipe Miocic.
Light heavyweights Jan Blachowicz vs. Jimi Manuwa has also been announced for the card.