FILIPOVIC: Croatian Special Forces officer Mirko Filipovic is I.K.B.F. World Heavyweight Full Contact Champion, K-1 Grand Prix ’99 finalist, K-1 World Grand Prix 2000 in Fukuoka finalist. “Cro Cop” has a 40-5 amateur and 12-5 professional boxing record and a 13-2-2 record in MMA. He trains with Igor Kolakusic, Igor Pokrajac and the rest of the Cro Cop Squad Gym.

“Cro Cop” made the move from K-1 kickboxing to MMA in 2001 and debuted against Antonio Inoki disciple Kazuyuki Fujita at the K-1 Andy Hug Memorial in Japan. He faced current Pride matchmaker Nobuhiko Takada at Pride 17 in a draw and his first real test came against Wanderlei Silva at Pride 20. The rules were in Filipovic’s favor as there were quick stand-ups, but Silva kept it on the feet and struck with Mirko. It was ruled a draw and the Pride Shockwave show saw Filipovic take on legend Kazushi Sakuraba under full PFC rules. A Sakuraba broken orbital bone forced a halt to the match in the second round. Mirko beat Fujita again in a boring rematch and faced top heavyweight contender Heath Herring at Pride 26. Herring looked overwhelmed and was stopped with strikes in the first round.

Filipovic went on a 4-1 run knocking out Igor Vovchanchyn, Ron Waterman, Yoshihisa Yamamoto and Dos Caras Jr. His only loss was to Rodrigo Nogueira at the Pride Final Conflict show. Mirko fared well in the first round but fell victim to the submission master in the second and Rodrigo sunk the armbar to win the PFC interim heavyweight championship Title. The opening round of the Pride Heavyweight tournament saw “Cro Cop” lose via knockout at the hands of wrestler Kevin Randleman. An unimpressive decision win over Hiromitsu Kanehara was followed with a pair of consecutive knockouts over Shungo Oyama and Aleksander Emeliananko and a freak submission win over Josh Barnett at Pride 28.

RANDLEMAN: Ohio State wrestler Kevin Randleman is a two-time NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Champion, three-time NCAA Division 1 Wrestling All-American, the UVF 4 Iron Fighter Tournament Champion and a former UFC heavyweight champion. “The Monster” is 16-9 in MMA and trains with wrestling mentor Mark Coleman and the rest of the Hammer House in Ohio.

Randleman began his MMA fighting career in 1996 in the Universal Vale Tudo Fighting event. He defeated UFC veterans Geza Kalman Jr. and Dan Bobish to win his first NHB title. Kevin returned to the UVF 6 tournament and beat UFC veteran Ebenezer Braga by decision and WVC veteran Mario Neto with strikes in the semifinals before losing to UFC/Pride veteran Carlos Barreto by triangle choke. At the Brazil Open heavyweight tournament, Kevin was knocked out by Pride veteran wrestler Tom Erikson in the final bout.

Kevin debuted in the U.S. at UFC 19 against Maurice Smith and won via decision. A tough loss to Bas Rutten at UFC 20 led to a title shot and victory at UFC 23/Japan 2 against Lion’s Den fighter Pete Williams. He defended his title at UFC 26 against Pedro Rizzo and then to current UFC light-heavyweight champion Randy Couture at UFC 28. Kevin moved down to light heavyweight and was knocked out by No. 1 contender Chuck Liddell at UFC 31. A five-fight winning streak, which included victories over Brazilians Renato Sobral and Murilo Rua, has been followed with a dismal 1-4 showing with losses to Quinton Jackson, Kazushi Sakuraba, Fedor Emelianenko and Ron Waterman. The lone bright spot, a knockout win over Mirko Filipovic, is the motivation for the rematch and is likely one of the few reasons Kevin is on the show.

MY PICK: Filipovic. Randleman could really use the career boost from a win and nothing would make for a more interesting storyline than if he truly had Mirko’s number. Could you imagine Kevin dropping him again? Unfortunately I don’t see it happening. Mirko was supposed to face the PFC heavyweight champion but with Emelianenko and Nogueira having unfinished business, the bout was shelved. A Silva-Filipovic rematch was mentioned, even a Filipovic-Hunt rematch (under MMA rules) was talked about, but somehow this is the match-up that was chosen. If Kevin loses, that is five of six down. Would he be brought back? Hopefully, but you couldn’t blame Pride for thinking twice. The numbers don’t lie. Mirko is 6-1 in 2004 with four knockouts. Filipovic by KO in the first round.