Eddie Sanchez: First To Fall To Cro Cop Raleigh, NC - Eddie Sanchez was the first opponent fed to Mirko Cro Cop in the Ultimate fighting Championship at UFC 67: All or Nothing. Sanchez, at 6'2", 230 pounds, dropped to 8-1 during a bout he was never in. Cro Cop stalked a backpedaling Sanchez until he finally caught the overmatched fighter with a hard left roundhouse to the head. From there Cro Cop mounted, delivered several unanswered blows, and looked unstoppable as the referee was forced to call a halt to the contest in the closing seconds.

of the first round. .

As devastating as Cro Cop is, most UFC fans stilldon't know the fearsome heavyweight since he has had most of his fights in Japan under the Pride organization and is relatively unknown in America except to more hardcore MMA fans who watch organizations other than the UFC.

The hard kicking Croatian, Mirko Filipovic, was originally a kick boxer who worked for an anti-terrorist unit in the Croatian special services before arriving in Japan to fight where he was renamed Cro Cop: Croatian Cop. It may sound like pro wrestling, but it’s not. Cro Cop is for real as his opponents in the 1999 K-1 World Grand Prix tournament can attest to.

2001 saw K-1 and Pride combine for events. At one, Cro Cop faced New Japan Pro Wrestling champion Kazuyuki Fujita, who was also an MMA fighter with wins over two UFC fighters: Ken Shamrock and Mark Kerr. In addition the Fujita resume touts him as a national Greco-Roman wrestling champion in Japan,

It only took 39 seconds for Cro Cop to land a knee to Fujita’s head causing a gash so deep that the referee had to stop the bout due to excessive blood flow. Some called it a fluke and wanted to see Cro Cop in action again.

On December 31, 2001, Cro Cop faced another national champion in amateur wrestling and New Japan pro wrestler, Yuji Nagata. Hoping to capitalize on his Greco-Roman wrestling skills, Nagata stepped in and clinched, attempting to throw Cro Cop but was tossed away. Fans were stunned, as was Nagata who didn’t receive a long time to reflect on the moment. He was stunned again, this time by a devastating left high kick that ended the bout in just 21 seconds.

The two victories earned Cro Cop the  nickname "The Pro Wrestler Hunter," an on Aug. 28, 2002 he would hunt pro wrestler turned MMA legend Kazushi Sakuraba in front of 71,000 fans at the Tokyo National Stadium in an event that still holds the attendance record to this day. $7.4 million was the gate for Japan’s biggest pay-per-view ever.

After knocking out  the muscular 6-4 and 365 pound very popular Bob Sapp in 2003 at a K-1 event during a highly watched televised event in Japan, Cro Cop jumped ship from K-1 to Pride and went full-time in mixed martial arts.

In 2004 he was expected to face world heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko in the finals of a heavyweight tournament. However, Kevin Randleman, a fighter who gained some popularity in the UFC knocked out Cro Cop with a right hand in a devastating upset.

Cro Cop would avenge the defeat and get his title shot with Emelianenko. On August 28, 2005 .he would lose a lopsided decision and come up short in his quest for the title.  

In 2006, with Emelianenko out of the tournament due to an injured hand, Cro Cop won Pride's Open Weight Grand Prix tournament. On Sept. 10th he scored a knockout over a man he once battled to a draw when he bested middleweight champion, Wanderlei Silva in 5:26. The Axe Murderer hadn’t been knocked out in nearly a decade.

For an encore, he plowed through Josh Barnett in 7:32.

Cro Cop’s two-year, six-fight deal with the UFC may make the US the new top market for MMA. With growing revenue from its pay per views, the UFC’s pockets are deep enough now to pull top stars away from Japan who was certainly the leader until this point.

Will other top stars follow?

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