Mirko Cro Cop says he will fight Hong Man Choi on New Year’s Eve

Former PRIDE and UFC heavyweight star Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has revealed in a blog post that he will be fighting South Korean K-1 fighter Hong Man Choi at “Fields Dynamite!!” on New Year’s Eve.

“I’m excited to let you know that I have accepted DREAM’s offer to fight against Hong-man Choi on December 31 at Dynamite show,” writes Cro Cop. “We arranged all details and the contract has been signed – the fight is officialy on.”

The Croatian native is a former K-1 standout who has gone 23-6-2 since making his MMA debut in 2001. Cro Cop’s last fight took place at DREAM 6 in September where he went to a non contest with Alistair Overeem. The fight was stopped after Cro Cop was the recipient of multiple low blows.

Choi, nicknamed “The Techno Goliath,” is listed as 7′2” and has primarily competed as a kickboxer. However, he is 1-1 in MMA with his most recent MMA-rules bout taking place last December 31 at “Yarennoka!”

Facing former PRIDE heavyweight champion and current WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko, Choi submitted to an armbar at 1:54 of round 1. Prior to the loss to Emelianenko, Choi TKO’d comedian Bobby Ologun in just 16 seconds at FEG’s “Dynamite!!” event on New Year’s Eve in 2006.

The giant kickboxer could present several matchup problems for Cro Cop, and it’s a fight he will have to take on short notice.

“… It’s really a problem for me to accept this fight with only 14 days left to go,” Cro Cop wrote in his blog. “I’ve been training hard after my last fight and I’m ready to face the Korean giant. When you fight the opponent of that size, you just have to take the fight very seriously. Under MMA rules he’s not experienced, but he’s big and strong and that makes him dangerous.”

“Dynamite” will be produced by FEG and will feature fighters from both the DREAM and K-1 roster. The event will emanate from the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. In addition to the Cro Cop vs. Choi fight, “Dynamite!!” is set to feature Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Kiyoshi Tamura, Joachim Hansen vs. Gesias “JZ Calvan” Calvancante, and Eddie Alvarez vs. Shinya Aoki.

Published reports out of Japan also indicate that the combined DREAM and K-1 show will feature appearances by Olympic Judo gold medalist Satoshi Ishii and Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson.

Sam Caplan is the President of Combat Sports Media, LLC, the parent company of FiveOuncesOfPain.com. CSM is a B-2-B outsource solution in the MMA industry and provides PR, web management, and other consulting services to MMA companies. Clients of CSM include the Combat Sports Championships and Showtime.
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