Mirko Cro Cop

“The cage is bigger than the ring, and it's a little bit different.”

“First I'm a sportsman and then a politician.”

“I'm 240, and I'm not fat.”

“Sooner or later, the time comes when a man has to think on the health. I had a really long and great career, and I believe I left a deep mark in the martial arts. I have no regrets.”

“Martial arts gave me everything in life. It is not about a paycheck; it is about how I live my life.”

“I am aware that I have come to the end of my martial times, but training with pain I want no longer. My body is battered by countless trainings. I collected nine operations; the body has become prone to injury.”

“People don't get it. Martial arts is my life.”

“Now I am training with sparring partners who are nice people, sure, but not my friends. These are sparring partners who want to knock me out in sparring. In the Croatian media, they said it was 'life and death' sparring - it was not quite life and death, but it was all-out fighting, very hard.”

“I think I owe a lot to the UFC and UFC fans.”

“I wish you could see a new Cro Cop, 15 years younger. I wish it was possible.”

“I had it on my mind that I will fight in Cologne, because UFC is coming to Germany, where the biggest and largest Croatian community lives there. It was my big, big, big wish to participate. Even my doctor didn't believe I will make it, but I did.”

“Of course I will submit if I have a chance, but I always prefer to finish a fight in a stand-up position.”

“People consider me a striker, but I have trained jiu-jitsu for 10 years.”

“I had 33 kickboxing fights, 37 MMA fights, plus 44 amateur boxing fights, which most of them were international. I will keep fighting as long as I feel good, but I will repeat once more, any fight could be the last one.”

“I'm a guy who likes to have fun, and I like everything normal people like, but I am always quoted before the fight when I'm jet-lagged and focused. In everyday life, I am different.”

“I broke people's bones, tore muscles, ribs, faces, inflicted some serious and heavy damages to my opponents, etc... I got hurt myself, too, from serious attacks.”

“Gabriel Gonzaga is a very solid fighter, and I've seen some of his fights. He's a tough guy.”

“I will keep fighting as long as I can, as long as I'm going to feel fit, as long as people would like to see me fighting, and that's it.”

“I usually train twice a day, and Thursdays and Sundays are supposed to be my days off. But even on those days, I'm training at least once. I have to do at least one session each day to be happy.”

“Frank Mir is gonna be my toughest fight in my UFC career. It won't be easy.”