5. Mirko Filipovic
“Cro Cop” is a striking trailblazer unlike anyone else, even on this list. He is the first man to come from an elite kickboxing background, with no grappling experience, and become not just a good mixed martial artist, but a great one. No one else can say this. Igor Vovchanchyn was never an elite kickboxer and was also training judo and wrestling. Chuck Liddell wasn't an elite kickboxer either and had wrestled in college, gaining experience which he relied upon more than most realize. Even Bas Rutten was also never a top kickboxer and leaned on Pancrase's unique ruleset. Filipovic was the first. One reason was that his style of striking was perfect for MMA, being a one-shot sniper who looked for the right opportunity to throw monstrous strikes that would flatline opponents. He didn't throw combinations or multiple blows but made sure that the ones he attempted were unparalleled in terms of accuracy, suddenness, and brutal power. Whether it was his left cross, his legendary kicks, which could crumple opponents by striking the body as well as the head, or the fantastic elbows he developed later in his career, his style was predicated on finishing opponents, preferably with a minimum of strikes.
Filipoovic beat many fine strikers in his time, including an iconic 89-second head kick knockout of Vovchanchyn, a similar two-minute knockout of Aleksander Emelianenko and three wins over Josh Barnett, the last a vicious knockout. For me, his greatest triumph was the rematch against Wanderlei Silva. Against an opponent who seemed virtually unbeatable on the feet at the time, especially against anyone roughly his own size, “Cro Cop” picked him apart with lightning-quick, precise counters and even utilized combinations more than he had at any other time in his career, knocking out the Brazilian legend with a head kick a little over five minutes into the first round. It was stunning to watch back in 2006 and even now, with how much MMA has evolved and improved, it's still one of the all-time great standup displays. “Cro Cop” paved the way for strikers to attain the highest levels of MMA more than any other fighter on this list.
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