Chatri Sityodtong recently secured the signing of Robert Soldic. It looks like the ONE Championship CEO flew to Croatia to complete the deal because he has just shared a photo of himself training with Mirko Crocop.
Chatri is an enthusiastic martial artist who tries to fit as much training as possible in what must be a very busy schedule. He posted a photo of himself alongside Crocop on Instagram just now:
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Crazy stories
Chatri explained how he ended up at the Croatian’s house,
“A couple of days ago, I had the good fortune of spending some quality time with the legendary Mirko ‘CroCop’ Filipovic at his house when I was in Zagreb, Croatia. We spent several hours together, laughing over crazy stories, training martial arts, and later wolfing down a big Croatian feast for dinner.”
Crocop retired after suffering a stroke but Chatri seems to think the 47 year old still has what it takes to compete as a kickboxer or mixed martial artist,
“I was genuinely shocked by the level of Mirko’s strength, fitness, speed, and technical expertise. He is still a monster. He remains in tremendous fighting shape, training two a day, 5x a week. He would put most professional fighters today to shame with his work ethic and intensity. At a lean, fit, and muscular 240lbs today, Mirko is still super fast, explosive, powerful, and technical,” he wrote on Instagram.
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Beautiful technique
If Crocop did decide to make a comeback it sounds like ONE Championship would be competing for his signature. Chatri paid tribute to the Pride and Rizin openweight Grand Prix winner,
“Without a doubt, Mirko is one of the greatest heavyweight world champions of all time, winning world titles in both mixed martial arts and kickboxing. In fact, he will always be one of my favorite fighters in history for his beautiful technique (especially his high kicks) and his devastating KO power.”
It does not sound like Crocop will ever be able to compete again. But it is inspiring to see that he remains dedicated to training and has the same sort of regime as a professional fighter.
The 47 year old will definitely be keeping a close eye on Soldic’s ONE Championship career. We might even see his son, Ivan Filipovic, competing for Chatri’s promotion one day.
