Fight Switch: ‘Cro Cop’ Shakes Up Camp

Fighters have to believe in reinvention. If the traits that cost them bouts in the past aren’t course-corrected, then there’s no reason for them to compete again. The same ills will weigh them down -- if not athletically, then mentally.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic knows this, which is why the Croatian has dropped boxing coach Marjan Zizanovic and sparring partner Igor Pokrajac from his circle of training associates, per the reports of Fighter’s Only and foreign news source Index.hr. Instead, he plans on working with Ivan Hippolyte, a retired Dutch Muay Thai legend with a 69-6 kickboxing record. The shake-ups come following rumors Filipovic will fight Ben Rothwell on Feb. 21 in Australia at UFC 110.

In all but a handful of his recent bouts, Filipovic has looked reluctant to engage or mount any kind of sustained offense: it’s tarred an otherwise impressive career. A sports psychologist would bill him at least 50 hours to figure it out. It’s good to cycle in new faces, but ultimately, neither Zizanovic nor Pokrajac follow him into the ring. And that’s where his problems are.