Cro Cop expects support from his fans

Mirko ‘Crop Cop’ Filipovic expects to have most of the fans with him when he takes on Mostapha Al Turk at UFC 99 in Cologne.

It has been a long time since Cro Cop has fought anywhere else than Japan and many fans from his native Croatia, are expected to attend the event in Germany.

Filipovic’s fight against Al Turk will be his first fight ever in Continental Europe for the UFC.

“Many friends of mine are traveling,” Cro Cop told MMA FanHouse. “My brothers, my brothers-in-law, my father-in-law, my family will be taking their own cars to Cologne. Many, many people are going in their cars. It’s only about 10 hours of driving to get there. Many, many, many people are coming, people are organizing trips, and definitely, many Croatian fans will be there.”

“Mirko Cro Cop is a popular fighter,” UFC President Dana White said. “People here in the United States love him, the UK, Croatia, Germany, Japan, he’s one of the best in the world, and we want the best fighters in the world.”

“I grew up as a fighter in Japan, definitely,” Cro Cop said of his career. “That’s the place where I have the majority of my fans. Of course, I know that people recognize me in the States, even though I’ve fought only once there. European fans, today in the Internet era, it’s just a global village — everyone knows everyone. Fights all over the world are easy to get. You can get pay-per-view easily, people are watching it from Brazil to Russia, from Canada to Japan. I think people recognize me all around the world as a good fighter and I know I’ll have big support Saturday night in Cologne.”

Tags: Dana White, Mirko Cro Cop, UFC