Mirko Cro Cop faces Perosh at UFC 110, as Ben Rothwell falls ill

It has been revealed that at the UFC’s australian debut Mirko Filopovic will now face Anthony Perosh who replaces Ben Rothwell who has fallen ill.The full extent of Rothwell’s illness has not yet been disclosed. Also Elvis Sinosic has pulled out of his bout with fellow Australian Chris Haseman due to a shoulder injury. The UFC has decided to cancel this bout rather than find a replacement for the prelim-card fight.

Anthony Perosh, who takes this fight on a two-day notice, discussed with UFC.com his decision process to step in and fight the Croatian icon:

“I actually said ‘no’ (to replace Ben Rothwell) originally. I look up to Cro Cop and he’s a fellow Croatian. My parents are Croatian and I’ve actually been training the other Croatians appearing on this UFC 110 card. Then I went and watched yesterday’s (Thursday) Press Conference and listened to the comment Dana White made about how many fighters actually turn down opportunities. That just made me to realize what a big chance this was. I quickly called Joe Silva back and said, ‘yeah – I’ll do it’. There were just far too many positives than negatives as far as this opportunity was concerned.”

Anthony Perosh is a decorated second degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt under the legendary Carlos Machado. Perosh fought twice in the Ultimate Fighting Championship before, losing via TKO to the “Snowman” Jeff Monson (UFC 61) and a decision to Christian Wellisch (UFC 66). Perosh, who goes by the nickname “Hippo” declared that he will do everything to take the fight to the ground:

“I have a lot of experience in this sport. I’m just treating this as another match. He’s just another opponent for me. I’m not putting Cro Cop on any kind of pedestal for this fight. It’s no secret that I’m going to try and take him down, ground-and-pound him and then choke him out. I believe I have the ground skills to do this. I always hoped I’d be back and here is my chance.”

Perosh faces the toughest opponent of his life in Mirko Cro Cop, former Pride Champion and a legendary fighter who’s devastating head kicks have seen many fighters out cold before the hit the canvas. Even though Mirko broke a 3 fight win streak with his TKO loss to Junior Dos Santos at UFC 103, he has experienced some confidence problems since, but many people still believe that he will prove himself and defend his reputation. Maybe now that he could be facing a slightly less experienced fighter he will be able to find his feet again. No pun intended.