Rate it!

2 votes

Junior Dos Santos moved deeper into the UFC's heavyweight mix by knocking off Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic at UFC 103 in Dallas.

Dos Santos (9-1) clearly won the first two rounds, but in doing so, key questions were answered. He absorbed plenty of shots, and his face was badly swollen late in the fight.

Stamina was not an issue, nor was frustration, as Cro Cop was wise enough in the ring and tough enough to take his best shots without going down.

But in the third round, after being caught with nine hard knees up the middle, Filipovic took a punch squarely in the eye, complained to ref Dan Miragliotta that he could not see, and the match was stopped at 2:00.

"Cro Cop" was a major crowd favorite, responding to his unusual entrance music of Duran Duran's "Wild Boys." It came off as a throwback of the days he headlined in Japan, and perhaps a sign that the he could relive 2006, the year Cro Cop won numerous fighter of the year awards as the most popular foreign fighter in Japan.

Although Cro Cop said he was fine after the match, UFC president Dana White ordered him to go to the hospital.

"He needed to go the hospital," White said. "He said he was fine and he refused to go, but I made him go. He's going on a 20-hour flight [back to Croatia]. He said he was fine and didn't want to go to the doctor."

With a 2-3 mark in UFC competition, and showing none of the quickness and aggressiveness of his prime, Cro Cop's second attempt at a run at the heavyweight title looks like a marathon with no finish line in sight.

Results:

Rafael Dos Anjos bt Rob Emerson, unanimous decision

Vladimir Matyushenko bt Igor Pokrajec, unanimous decision

Eliot Marshall bt Jason Brilz, unanimous decision

Ricky Story bt Brian Foster, submission (arm triangle choke), 1:09 R2

Nik Lentz bt Radaello Oliveira, unanimous decision

Jim Miller bt Steve Lopez, TKO, 0:48 R2

Tomasz Drwal bt Drew McFedries, submission (rear naked choke), 1:03 R2

Efrain Escudero bt Cole Miller, TKO, 3:36 R1

Tyson Griffin bt Hermes Franca, TKO, 3:26 R2

Josh Koscheck bt Frank Trigg, TKO, 1:25 R1

Paul Daley bt Martin Kampmann, TKO, 2:31 R1

Junior Dos Santos bt Mirko Cro Cop, submission (verbal), 2:00 R3

Vitor Belfort bt Rich Franklin, KO, 3:02 R1

Dave Meltzer, Yahoo! Sports / Eurosport