Mirko Cro Cop has finally been given an opponent to face on the DREAM fight card that is scheduled for March 15th at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. Yoshihiro Nakao was recently chosen to fight the former PrideFC heavyweight contender. Nakao is known for defeating tough opponents including Wesley "Cabbage" Correira and Don Frye. He has only lost once in his MMA career and it was against Kazuhiro Nakamura via a unanimous decision back in September of 2006.
In a recent interview with Cro Cop, he admitted that he was a bit depressed with his last two losses and that he was going through some personal issues that was pushing him toward a possible retirement.
"Well, as you all know, I had a bad period in my last two fights, which I’d lost in the UFC…I don’t want anyone to think that I’m running away from the UFC, but I
was thinking a lot about how to continue with my career, and I think in
this moment, I think Dream is the right place for me…Another thing is that I never liked fighting in the cage. I always
liked to fight in the ring. The second thing is that I liked fighting
in Japan. Japan is like my second home — I feel like I’m home in
Japan. All those reasons [have brought me] here, and I’m very happy
that I’m going to fight here in Japan. But of course, one day, I don’t
know when, but definitely I’ll be back in the UFC to show that it was
just a bad period for me. Now I’m fully recovered, physically and
mentally, most important mentally"
We sure hope he redeems himself out there in Japan and we’re pretty sure MMA fans all over the world will be watching him. We’ll be waiting for his UFC return, whenever that may be.
