Mirko Cro Cop Earns KO Win at K-1 Rising 2012; Semmy Schilt Victorious at Glory World Series

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By Shaun Al-Shatti - Staff Writer

May 27, 2012 - Mixed martial arts legend Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic continued his kickboxing resurgence on Sunday afternoon, flattening Loren Javier Jorge with a left uppercut midway through the pair's heavyweight superfight at K-1 Rising 2012 in Madrid, Spain.
Filipovic, 37, competing in kickboxing for the second time since retiring from MMA following a UFC 137 loss to Roy Nelson, appeared loose and comfortable opening the action early on his feet, even tossing out a few of his trademark left high kicks to the crowd's delight. The veteran picked up his pressure in the second-round, diversifying his striking from tight inside the pocket and finding a home for his hard left uppercut, before flooring Jorge with the same strike.
Jorge staggered back to his feet, but with thirty seconds to go Cro Cop charged forward unloading a furious salvo, dropping Jorge for good with a left straight, right straight, and one final left uppercut. For old-school fight fans, it was a semi-vintage performance from Filipovic, who earned his first knockout victory -- kickboxing or MMA -- since 2010.


In the night's main event, former K-1 Heavyweight champion Badr Hari edged out Anderson "Braddock" Silva via a grueling unanimous decision to pick up a victory in his first fight since briefly retiring from kickboxing earlier this year.
Hari started off strong, dropping Silva with a short right hook midway through the opening round. However Silva fought back valiantly, picking his spots with straight shots and, at times, dragging Hari into a firefight. After fighting off the ropes for much of the second frame, a visibly tired Hari peppered his opponent just enough during the pair's wild third-round exchanges to claim the judges' nod.
Elsewhere on the weekend, four-time K-1 World Grand Prix Champion Semmy Schilt cruised to a TKO stoppage win over Errol Zimmerman to claim the inaugural Glory World Heavyweight Championship belt at the main event of Glory World Series Finals, held in Stockholm, Sweden.
In a rematch of the pair's 2010 bout, Schilt brutalized Zimmerman over the course of three rounds with his immense height and range advantage, forcing Zimmerman's corner to relent and throw in the towel.
Complete results for K-1 Rising 2012 and Glory World Series Finals can be found below.
K-1 Rising 2012 results:
Badr Hari def. Anderson "Braddock" Silva via unanimous decision
Mirko Cro Cop def. Loren Javier Jorge via KO (left uppercut) in round 2
Daniel Ghita def. Wendell Roche via TKO (corner stoppage) in round 2
Sergei Lascenko def. Rico Verhoeven via split decision
Artur Kyshenko def. Su Hwan Lee via KO in round 2
Andy Souwer def. Abraham Roqueni via unanimous decision
Murthel Groenhart def. Harut Grigorian via KO in round 3
Reese McCallister def. Yuji Nashiro via unanimous decision
Yasuhiro Kido def. Xu Yan via KO in round 3
Mike Zambidis def. Chahid Oulad El Hadj via KO in round 3
Chris Ngimbi def. Chain Superpro Samui via unanimous decision
Andy Ristie def. Gago Drago via unanimous decision
Glory World Series Finals results:
Semmy Schilt def. Errol Zimmerman via TKO (corner stoppage) in round 3
Gokhan Saki def. Carter Williams via KO in round 1
Nieky Holzken def. Alex Harris via TKO (knockdowns) in round 3
Giorgio Petrosyan def. Fabio Pinca via unanimous decision
Albert Kraus def. Mohammed El-Mir via unanimous decision
Sanny Dahlbeck def. Warren Stevelmans via unanimous decision
Ky Hollenbeck def. Michael Corley via TKO (referee stoppage) in round 1
David Kyria def. Kem Sitsongpeenong via unanimous decision
Robin van Roosmalen def. Dzhabar Askerov via unanimous decision
Tim Thomas def. Dennis Schneidmiller via unanimous decision
Shemsi Beqiri def. Yoshihiro Sato via split decision