Mirko Filipovic
Croatia’s Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is a true legend in the sport of mixed martial arts. Before it was bought out by the UFC, Pride Fighting Championships was putting on mixed martial arts fight cards in front of 90,000+ spectators out in Japan as early as the year 2000. Mirko earned one of the sport’s coolest nicknames in “Cro Cop” because of his membership to his country’s elite Police Special Forces, the Lučko Anti-Terrorist Unit. Think Croatian SWAT.
“Cro Cop” was crowned the Pride FC Openweight Grand Prix Champion in 2006, K-1 Kickboxing World Grand Prix Champion in 2012, and Rizin Openweight Champion last year. Infamous for the devastating kicking power he possessed, he once stated, “right leg is hospital, left is cemetery”. With kicks like those, who needs a taser?
Tim Sylvia
Proving to be another pioneer in the MMA world, Tim Sylvia became the UFC Heavyweight Champion in 2003 when he defeated Rico Rodriguez at UFC 41. He went on the defend his title at UFC 44 and had an epic trilogy of fights with Andre Arlovski in which he took two out of three tilts for the heavyweight strap. Sylvia last fought in 2013 and retired from the sport with a record of 31-10.
He is currently a reserve police officer with the Milan Police Dept. in Illinois where he works the road most weekends. According to Sylvia, he “loves it” and “it’s what he’s always wanted to do.” He’s even got the high school year book quote to prove it. Go on a ride-along with him here.
