Daily Fights: Mirko Cro Cop v. Remy Bonjasky

Earlier this week we looked at Cro Cop's final kickboxing fight against Bob Sapp - now we look at his second to last fight.  This was from June 2002 as he faced future multi-time Grand Prix champion Remy Bonjasky.  Mirko was coming in off a victory over then GP champion Mark Hunt which had to place him as the #1 fighter in K-1 at the time.  This was very early in Bonjasky's K-1 career, though he had already established himself with wins over Ray Sefo and Peter Majstrovic (along with a victory over another young K-1 fighter by the name of Melvin Manhoef).  Bonjasky was one year away from his first Grand Prix crown here.

Note: If you're short on time or just want the highlights, you could skip round 1 and start watching at the 5:30 mark.

As he did against Bernardo, Cro Cop rattles his opponent with the head kick, then pours on the pressure until scoring the win.  All credit to Bonjasky, who survives the onslaught for a commendably long period, but it's just too much.

Following this fight, Mirko would focus full time on MMA, returning to K-1 just once more a year later for the Sapp fight.  He walked away from K-1 at arguably the highpoint of his kickboxing career.  Makes you wonder - had he stuck around to take part in the Grand Prix that year, would Mirko Cro Cop have been your 2002 Grand Prix champion?  It's certainly a strong possibility.