As expected Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic has replaced injured Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and now meets fellow heavyweight Frank Mir in the main event of next month's UFC 119 event.

News of the change first surfaced on Sunday, and UFC executives today made it official.

"UFC 119: Mir vs. Cro Cop" takes place Sept. 25 at Conseco Fieldhouse in
Indianapolis, and the night's main card airs on pay-per-view.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic replaces an injured Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and now meets Frank Mir in the headliner of next month's UFC 119 event, according to a report from "Fighters Only."

Although details of Nogueira's injury were not reported, a source close to the fighter told MMAjunkie.com a recurring hip injury is to blame.

UFC 119 takes place Sept. 25 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

UFC hall of famer and MMA legend Randy Couture (18-10) welcomed a fight with former K-1/ Pride star Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović (27-7-2), after the Croatian named him as someone he’d like to face someday.

Fighters Only Magazine spoke to a source close to Couture at the Xtreme Couture HQ, who said the former UFC champ would welcome a fight against Filipović.

“I can almost guarantee that he would gladly take that fight. I know it’s one that he was all for two years ago. I think he’d rather fight a contender at 205 but that he’d never shy away from a high profile fight like that,” the source told us.

Couture is on a two fight win streak after defeating Mark Coleman via technical submission at UFC 109 and Brandon Vera via unanimous decision at UFC 105. He’ll meet heavyweight boxing champion James Toney next at UFC 118 on August 28.

Filipović is also on a two fight win streak having beaten Pat Barry via submission at UFC 115 in Vancouver, Canada in June and Anthony Perosh via TKO (doctors stoppage) in Australia at UFC 110 last February.

“Cro Cop” is currently without a contract with the UFC and is looking for a reason to stave off retirement. A bout with Couture could be just the thing to coax him back to the octagon.

Not to many people know that Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic is also an action star, or that he has super powers, but the truth must come out. There’s no definitive proof that the Cop has super powered spit, but it certainly seems like he’s got some serious powers. See for yourself, and wonder who has enough money to put these kinds of films on the market.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Strikeforce event on June 26^th is bound to be one for the books as Strikeforce mixed martial arts joins up with M-1 Global to bring some of the toughest fighters in the world together within one caged ring. This is an extra special event because it combines Strikeforce MMA with M-1 Global, which allows it to be a complete world showcase of some of the world’s best fighters. This showcase has a huge title card as Fedor Emelianenko (who is actually a co-owner of M-1 Global) takes on Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight bout that promises to entertain.

Fedor Emelianenko- also known as “The Last Emperor”- holds a record of 31-1. His only recorded loss comes from the fact that his fight with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was stopped when Emelianenko suffered a gash in the opening seconds of the fight. Even though he has a loss to tarnish his undefeated streak, “The Last Emperor” understands that numbers don’t mean anything when you’re inside the cage.

“Fedor” has been at the top as the best heavyweight in the world for the better part of the last decade. He has taken down Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović, Mark Coleman, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on his way there. On June 26^th, he goes up against Fabricio Werdum (the number 9 heavyweight in the world) for a showdown that’s bound to define the two fighters and the event.

Even though Emelianenko is the top heavyweight in the world he will have a lot on his hands going up against the jiu-jitsu technician, Fabricio Werdum. Werdum is known as “Vai Cavalo” or “Leading Horse” which speaks to his wild and free nature in the ring. It looks like it will be Emelianenko’s job to tame Werdum if he wants victory.

However, the June 26^th Strikeforce will not just be the main event. In fact, many more people are looking forward to the top woman in the world, Cris “Cyborg” Santos taking on Jan Finney. Most feel that Cyborg will take out Finney pretty easily and glide on to an effortless victory (even more so considering that Finney’s nickname is “Cuddles”), but Finney has been known to be scrappy making the fight a good one to watch.

Plus, seeing Cris Cyborg in action is always an event in itself:

With both the male and female champions defending their titles on the same night, the June 26^th Strikeforce event is destined to be an exciting evening for MMA fans.

Alexia is a lifelong fan of sports and fitness. Recently, she's been obsessed with MMA. As a result, she has joined forces with MMA Industries- purveyors of widely popular MMA training gloves and shirts. Alexia has been writing about the latest developments in MMA equipment for the past few years, and continues to bring you the latest news in the mixed martial arts world.

The Strikeforce event on June 26^th is bound to be one for the books as Strikeforce mixed martial arts joins up with M-1 Global to bring some of the toughest fighters in the world together within one caged ring. This is an extra special event because it combines Strikeforce MMA with M-1 Global, which allows it to be a complete world showcase of some of the world’s best fighters. This showcase has a huge title card as Fedor Emelianenko (who is actually a co-owner of M-1 Global) takes on Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight bout that promises to entertain.

Fedor Emelianenko- also known as “The Last Emperor”- holds a record of 31-1. His only recorded loss comes from the fact that his fight with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was stopped when Emelianenko suffered a gash in the opening seconds of the fight. Even though he has a loss to tarnish his undefeated streak, “The Last Emperor” understands that numbers don’t mean anything when you’re inside the cage.

“Fedor” has been at the top as the best heavyweight in the world for the better part of the last decade. He has taken down Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović, Mark Coleman, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on his way there. On June 26^th, he goes up against Fabricio Werdum (the number 9 heavyweight in the world) for a showdown that’s bound to define the two fighters and the event.

Even though Emelianenko is the top heavyweight in the world he will have a lot on his hands going up against the jiu-jitsu technician, Fabricio Werdum. Werdum is known as “Vai Cavalo” or “Leading Horse” which speaks to his wild and free nature in the ring. It looks like it will be Emelianenko’s job to tame Werdum if he wants victory.

However, the June 26^th Strikeforce will not just be the main event. In fact, many more people are looking forward to the top woman in the world, Cris “Cyborg” Santos taking on Jan Finney. Most feel that Cyborg will take out Finney pretty easily and glide on to an effortless victory (even more so considering that Finney’s nickname is “Cuddles”), but Finney has been known to be scrappy making the fight a good one to watch.

Plus, seeing Cris Cyborg in action is always an event in itself:

With both the male and female champions defending their titles on the same night, the June 26^th Strikeforce event is destined to be an exciting evening for MMA fans.

Alexia is a lifelong fan of sports and fitness. Recently, she’s been obsessed with MMA. As a result, she has joined forces with MMA Industries- purveyors of widely popular MMA training gloves and shirts. Alexia has been writing about the latest developments in MMA equipment for the past few years, and continues to bring you the latest news in the mixed martial arts world.

UFC heavyweight Pat Barry broke his hand and foot in a co-main event
bout with Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic this past Saturday at UFC 115 and
will wear a hand cast and foot "boot" - or therapeutic brace - for five
weeks.

However, Barry today told MMAjunkie.com that he will
likely only need a few weeks of rehabilitation before he can return to
the gym.

"The plan was to take some time off after this fight," Barry said. "But
I'll be honest, man; as soon as this fight was over, I just wanted to
get out of this cast and out of this boot and get right back into the
gym."

Returning to home to his native Croatia fresh of his victory over Pat Barry at Saturday nights UFC 115 event, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović told a local news agency, Net.hr, that after arriving in Canada for his fight that Canadian customs threatened to deport him for possible “war crimes.”

Canada customs held Filipović’s for four hours wanting to know about his war time service during the Yugoslav Wars in the 90’s and whether or not he had been involved in any war crimes.

“The first day I was kept for four hours and two more the next day. Although they were not satisfied with my answers let me to sleep through the city, the hotel, and asked to think about the questions raised. I was threatened deportation, but rose to Croatian Embassy, the Consul urgently flown in from Ottawa, and the UFC hired the best lawyer for immigration issues. They obviously knew what would happen because my lawyer welcomed the runway at the airport, “retells the Croatian gladiator and discovered the unpleasant details of the conversation:

“Testing has been painful for me, but I must say that the Immigration Bureau officials very correctly perform their job. They used what they have to, but there are obviously very interested in the military and police matters from the former Yugoslavia. Most of them are interested in my military service that I served the 1993rd and 1994th time, as conscripts, but I was not involved in combat activities. They asked me if I was involved in the torture of civilians, asking for names of command lines and tactical commander. are asking for my activities in Port ATJ where I joined a few years after the war. They gave me a list of names to be confirmed, but I did it. No one not named because it is still a matter of dignity and principles. I said to myself, if this bid is ready to return home. They could do with me what they wanted, yet they’ll let me fight, “revealed the Vecernji Cro Cop.

The article was translated from Croatian to English using Google Translate.

Welcome back to another edition of “MMA Link Club” where FiveOuncesofPain.com gets a little help from our friends to bring all of the latest ramblings from the MMA landscape to your front door. Enjoy…

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Tim Kennedy: Pink Is Ferocious (VIDEO) (Fight! Magazine)

Cro Cop was almost deported from Canada over alleged war crimes (MiddleEasy.com)

Dana White Has No Issue With Condit-MacDonald Stoppage (WatchKalibRun.com)

Rich Franklin’s Painful Glove Removal (MMAScraps.com)

After facing one of his childhood idles, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, UFC heavyweight Pat Barry had to make a trip to the hospital after their fight due to a broken hand and foot.

Barry posted the picture from his Twitter account, twitter.com/hypeordie, noting that he broke his hand in the first and his foot in either the first or second round against the big Croatian.

Broke hand in first Broke something in foot in first or second

Nooo, it sucks to say, but I pannicked last night after I knew my hand and foot were done. I burned out trying to end it with power hits.

Barry’s performance in the fight was certainly affected by the injuries, after dominating the first round against “Cro Cop,” and helped to lead to his submission loss in the third round.

The UFC president, Dana White, talked about the loss for Barry, noting the fighter offered too much respect as a friend instead of facing a dangerous foe.

“He respected Cro Cop, but kind of had this feeling like I know I’m going to take him out tonight. I think he played that fight all wrong.”

Check out the second photo of Barry after the jump