Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic officially is cleared to compete in Saturday's UFC 119 pay-per-view main event. Filipovic suffered an eye poke in the final training session in his home country of Croatia this past week, which sparked reports of a potential withdrawal from his fight with Frank Mir.
Today, though, UFC officials issued a statement that "Cro Cop" has been cleared by an Indianapolis ophthalmologist.
UFC 119 takes place this Saturday at Indy's Conseco Fieldhouse. Filipovic actually is an injury replacement for Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, who pulled out of the fight in August.
"'Cro Cop' suffered a poke in the eye in the last round of his final sparring session for the bout last week, but after a few days of rest, he is in tip top shape for this pivotal battle of heavyweight contenders," the UFC.com statement read.
On Monday Andy Means, the director of the Indiana Gaming Commission's athletic division, told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Filipovic, who had seen doctors before traveling to the U.S., would undergo a pre-fight exam prior to Friday's weigh-ins. But apparently not wanting to risk a late surprise, officials arranged an exam as soon as Filipovic arrived in Indianapolis.
Even before the official clearance, UFC president Dana White repeatedly posted Twitter messages stating the fight would go on as planned.
Filipovic (27-7-2 MMA, 4-3 UFC), a former PRIDE star who's now in his second stint with the UFC, looks to build upon his recent and impressive 5-1 run. The only loss during the stretch came to current top UFC contender Junior Dos Santos, and Filipovic immediately rebounded from the defeat with stoppage wins over Anthony Perosh at UFC 110 and Pat Barry at UFC 115.
Mir (13-5 MMA, 11-5 UFC), a former UFC heavyweight champion, is just 1-2 since an initial win over Nogueira, which marked the Brazilian fighter's first-ever stoppage loss. The recent stretch includes knockout losses to Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin and a submission win over Cheick Kongo. The Carwin loss, which came at UFC 111 in March with an interim title on the line, marks his most recent outing.
For more on UFC 119, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic)
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