By Patrick Lujan
Roque Martinez has just signed to fight MMA legend Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic.
“It feels great knowing I’m fighting a legend and it’s an honor to step in there with him. However, it’s not satisfying enough to just get here. This is the fight that I have to win to show the world I am one of the best HW fighters in the world,” said Martinez.
It will be the biggest name fought by any Guam fighter to date.
The big fight is slated for Sept. 30th at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan under the Rizin 13 card.
Martinez looked sharp in his last fight earlier this month in Rizin 12.
“They pretty much offered the (Crop Cop) fight after the last one,” Martinez said. “Then we just spent about a week working on the details.”
“When you grind so hard and dedicate so much, you’ll find yourself next to the greatest,” Roque’s cousin Bo Martinez said. “Roque belongs with the greatest, because he does just that.”
Cro Cop (36-11), short for ‘Croatian Cop’, is riding an eight-fight win streak but has fought only once in almost two full years.
The 43 year old started his pro career in 1996 and has fought in all the big promotions: Pride, UFC, Dream, Bellator and now Rizin.
“I just kept thinking to myself ‘please Lord, make this fight go through’ HAHA!,” added Martinez.
He’s gone to war with a list of who’s who in the sport such as Sakaraba, Wanderlei Silva, Roy Nelson, Frank Mir, Junior dos Santos, Allistair Overeem, Mark Hunt, Fedor Emelianenko and more.
As he prepares for his biggest fight ever, Martinez is motivated to take it to another level.
“I always push the envelope with training when it comes to new fight camps. For this one, fighting Cro Cop is definitely very motivating!”
(AP/Carlos Osorio)
