Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic Smart in Fighting Mustapha Al Turk at UFC 99

Both Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Mustapha Al-Turk have gone on the record to say that they will be battling it out at UFC 99. In the end, Cro Cop is making the right move here, and many mixed martial arts fans are as psyched as psyched can be to see him back in the greatest MMA organization on the planet.

There was a time when Cro Cop was considered something of an MMA version of Mike Tyson. Every time he walked into the ring you had that something bad is about to happen feeling in the pit of your stomach. The reason was simple: his high kicks were violently dropping heavyweight contender after heavyweight contender in the former PRIDE organization,which eventually culminated in him winning the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix. But after losing two out of his only three UFC encounters, including a violent high kick knockout loss to Gabriel Gonzaga (perhaps the greatest single MMA kick of all-time), Cro Cop still has a lot to prove to America and the western world. And there’s only one way to do that.

Knock some people out in the UFC, starting with Mustapha Al-Turk.

So Cro Cop should be applauded for doing the right thing in coming back to the UFC. By making the move back to the organization, he has clearly proven that he wants to right the wrongs of the past and restore the faith of his fans. And if he rattles off a few wins in a row, who knows, we might be in for a Gonzaga- Cro Cop rematch.

Even if he doesn’t, it’s nice to see him back in the limelight again.