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Rizin FF: Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic to fight Wanderlei Silva

By Nicole Bosco

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - SEPTEMBER 08: Mirko Cro Cop talks to Korean fans at his fan meeting event on September 8, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu / Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - SEPTEMBER 08: Mirko Cro Cop talks to Korean fans at his fan meeting event on September 8, 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Han Myung-Gu / Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) /
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Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic and Wanderlei Silva will be participating in a 16 man Tournament for Rizin FF in Tokyo beginning this September.

Two former UFC fighters, and legends in the sport of MMA will be returning to the cage come this September. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic and Wanderlei Silva will be joining in the Rizin Fighting Federation Tournament. The 41-year-old Filipovic and the 40-year-old Silva will be participating in a 16 man tournament in Tokyo, Japan starting on September 25. The news that these two veteran fighters will return was first reported by ESPN.

Cro Cop will be coming out of retirement to participate in Rizin. He is currently serving a two-year suspension due to his use of HGH, which he admitted using in 2015. This suspension does not effect his ability to fight in Tokyo. Of his 33 MMA wins he has 23 by TKO, he has been known in his past for possessing power in his left hand as well as being able to control the pace of the fight. After his third time in the UFC in 2015, it was unclear if he would ever fight again professionally. His last three professional fights ended in TKO’s which show that he still possesses the power he once had.

Wanderlei Silva has had a rough time as of late. In 2013 he received a lifetime ban for not submitting to a drug test, that was the overturned to a three-year ban which will prohibit him from fighting in the US, Canada, or Brazil until 2017. He will be allowed to fight in Japan, due to the differences in laws. He is currently signed with Bellator while awaiting his ban to lapse. His last professional fight in the UFC was in March of 2013, where he won a very impressive fight over Brain Stann via TKO. This earned him Knockout of the Night as well as Performance of the Night bonuses.

This tournament will be taking place starting on September 25, and then will continue on December 29, and 31. Although the rest of the 16 fighters roster has yet to be announced we can expect that most of the focus will be on these two men and their ability to make their respective comebacks in a sport that they have excelled at for many years.

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