Mirko Cro Cop Filipović and Roy Nelson will allegedly face each other in the US in February, according to ESPN.
Cro Cop will have another chance at sweet revenge. In all likelihood, Mirko Filipović will fight Roy Nelson in the Bellator on February 16, 2019, according to ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani, the MMA insider whose information is of particular importance, reports Gol.hr on December 6, 2018.
The fight should still take place at the Bellator 216 in Uncasville, Connecticut, Helwani wrote referring to sources from the organization.
Recall, ‘Cro Cop’ and ‘Big Country’ were supposed to fight at the jubilee Bellator 200 in May in London, though the Croatian fighter had to pull out due to his ACL injury. Filipović sent an apology to Nelson and announced that they would fight again.
“I will recuperate as soon as possible and hope that we will then have a chance. I’m really looking forward to this, and I hope you will accept a fight again,” Filipović said to Nelson at the end of May.
Filipović recovered from his injury faster than expected and defeated Roque Martinez at the Rizin 13 spectacle in Japan. Mirko’s next fight was supposed to be at the Rizin this New Year’s Eve, though they failed to move forward after Floyd Mayweather announced his appearance at the competition, which eats most of the event’s budget.
The fight between our Cro Cop and Nelson will be a rematch of 2011. Recall, Nelson defeated Filipović in the UFC 137. Nelson won by first-round TKO.
At the same event in February, spectators should also enjoy a fight between Paul Daley and Michael Page, and Vitaly Minakov and Cheick Kongo.
Interestingly, the Bellator has prepared two spectacles for the same weekend. The Bellator 215 will be hosted the evening before, featuring stars Matt Mitrione and Sergei Kharitonov.
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