Less than two weeks after avenging a loss to Roy Nelson in Bellator, former PRIDE grand prix champion Mirko Cro Cop has announced his retirement.
In a recent appearance on the Croatian network Nova TV, Cro Cop, 44, said he’s no longer able to compete after being hospitalized due to a stroke.
“It’s over,” he said. “I hope I’m not going to cry, but it’s the inevitable retirement.”
Cro Cop today posted a picture from a hospital showing a wrist braclet that said “Department of Epilepsy” with a sad emoji caption. On his official Facebook page, Cro Cop posted a picture with the caption “a sad goodbye.”
Multiple requests to Bellator went unanswered, and MMAjunkie wasn’t immediately able to reach Cro Cop directly.
Although details of Cro Cop’s condition aren’t completely clear, he indicated he suffered a neck injury two or three months ago and may have had a seizure prior to the fight with Nelson.
“I will never enter the ring again,” he told Nova TV. “I cannot let anyone hit me. I have to have (an MRI) in three months, (and) after that I will train again, boxing bags, but there is no such thing as a fight.”
Cro Cop retires with a voluminous resume of 25 years in combat sports. As a kickboxer, he earned a 26-8 record with a 2012 win in the K-1 World Grand Prix. In MMA, he was on a 10-fight winning streak and took home titles in the Rizin FF Open-Weight Grand Prix.
Cro Cop famously ran the table in the 2006 PRIDE World Open-Weight Grand Prix, stopping Josh Barnett to win his first belt in the now-defunct Japanese promotion. He then migrated to the UFC, where he was 5-6.
A two-year suspension from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) –the result of admitting use of human growth-hormone – prompted Cro Cop to announce his retirement from the sport. But he returned to the ring overseas for Rizin before signing with Bellator.
While under contract with the Viacom-owned promotion, Cro Cop was drug tested multiple times out-of-competition and passed.
For more on the Bellator’s upcoming schedule, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.
