Cro Cop vs. Roy Nelson at Bellator 200

Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic, 43, has vowed to retire a final time at RIZIN’s 2018 New Year’s Eve show. Unlike most aging fighters who close their careers with dangerous KO losses, Cro Cop is on an eight-fight win streak in the past four years. And he didn’t do it by beating no-names. The list includes ‘King Mo’ Lawal, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Satoshi Ishii.

On Sunday the Croatian’s Facebook profile image changed, indicating he had signed with Bellator MMA.

The hardcore MMA fanbase immediately hoped for a rematch with Bellator signee Fedor Emelianenko. While it will be a rematch for Cro Cop, it will be vs. Roy Nelson. ‘Big Country’ won their first fight via TKO at UFC 137 on October 29, 2011.

Nelson, 41, is coming off a majority decision loss to Matt Mitrione at Bellator 194 on February 16 in a Bellator Heavyweight Grand Prix Quarterfinal fight. Prior to that, in his Bellator debut he earned a unanimous decision over Javy Ayala at Bellator 183 on September 24, 2017.

Nelson had a long career in the UFC before that, that began with his winning The Ultimate Fighter 10 Tournament on December 5, 2009. He went 10-11 during that span, winning six ‘of the Night’ performance bonuses in the process.

Bellator 200: Carvalho vs. Mousasi will take place on May 25, 2018 at the SSE Arena, Wembley in London, England. Card to date:
Rafael Carvalho (c) vs. Gegard Mousasi
Michael Page vs. David Rickels
Phil Davis vs. Linton Vassell