51-year-old retired MMA legend Mirko Cro Cop has revealed that he was approached about fighting Francis Ngannou, possibly on the undercard of Netflix’s Rousey vs. Carano.
The Croatian retired on health grounds, including suffering a stroke. Any fight would be a serious danger to Cro Cop’s well-being, let alone against one of the hardest hitters in combat sports.
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Mirko Cro Cop alleges he turned down a Francis Ngannou MMA fight
Cro Cop revealed during a recent interview with RMC that he’d laughed away an offer to fight ‘The Predator’ on the world stage. He didn’t clarify who approached him about the fight, just that they were a “serious guy from the MMA business… CEO of one big organization.”
“He’s calling me,” Crop Cop detailed the scenario. “‘Listen,’ he said. ‘Uh, I know you are training. You are in shape all the time… Are you willing to fight with Francis Ngannou?’
“I said, ‘Who?’ He said, ‘Francis Ngannou.’ I said, ‘What do you mean? Did you say fight? Did you use the word fight, or did you use the words playing cards, chess, swimming, or running? You mean fight as a fight?’ [he said] ‘Yes.’ ‘What kind of fight? Boxing fight?’ ‘No, no, no. MMA fight’ [Crop Cop laughs].
“I start laughing. Are you crazy? He’s the… If i had to pick a fight now and said, ‘Ok, make a list from the worst to the best… Of course, Francis will be the last one I would fight.”
The former PRIDE Fighting legend kept a smile on his face while talking about compensation, “… I would ask for $500,000 to fight,” He remarked.
“… And $19,500,000 to pay for the expression on my mother’s face when she heard who I should fight. . . . First of all, it’s too short. They’re fighting in May; they should call me three months before.
“But who would pay $20 million? . . . Who would spend that money when he kills me?
It’s entirely possible that Cro Cop was approached to fight Ngannou during ‘The Predator’s’ brief stint as a free agent after leaving PFL. Although he does mention the fight happening in May, which makes the Netflix event plausible.
Fighters Weekly has reached out to Most Valuable Promotions to verify whether Cro Cop was approached for Netflix’s debut MMA event.
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