Specifics of Mirko Cro Cop’s crazy injury revealed, wants October return and Roy Nelson rematch “ASAP”

It was announced yesterday that legendary MMA heavyweight, Mirko Cro Cop had been injured out of his big upcoming Bellator 200 main event rematch with Roy Nelson. The specifics of the injury weren’t given out at that time but now they have been and they’re a little stunning.

What exactly Cro Cop did to injure himself remains unknown but Ariel Helwani caught up with the legend last night and got the details about the severity of the damage his knee took.

Spoke to Mirko Cro Cop last night. Here's the list of injuries he suffered in his left knee:

ACL tear
MCL partial tear
MFL tear
LCL sprain
MAL tear

Amazingly, he said he's hoping to return in October. He still wants to fight and he wants a Nelson rematch "ASAP."

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 22, 2018

Spoke to Mirko Cro Cop last night. Here’s the list of injuries he suffered in his left knee:

ACL tear
MCL partial tear
MFL tear
LCL sprain
MAL tear

Amazingly, he said he’s hoping to return in October. He still wants to fight and he wants a Nelson rematch “ASAP.”

Now…props to Cro Cop for being such a warrior and wanting to fight as soon as October but that just isn’t even close to a possibility. An ACL tear by itself is an injury that can end careers and when it doesn’t, leaves fighters out for a year at least. That stacked with the other injuries is just insanity. Cro Cop posted a picture of himself on Monday in the hospital.

Despite being 43 years of age, the Croatian icon is on the best streak of his career with eight consecutive victories all of which have ended by finish(7 KO/TKOs and 1 submission). The names included in that streak are no pushovers either as he defeated the likes of Muhammad “King Mo” Lawal, Gabriel Gonzaga, Amir Aliakbari and Satoshi Ishii twice.

The planned Bellator debut fight for Cro Cop was a rematch of his and Nelson’s first meeting in 2011 when Nelson knocked Cro Cop out in the third round at UFC 137. Cro Cop has only lost to Alexei Oleinik since.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/22/2018.