Cro Cop catches a break as Ben Rothwell bails on UFC 110 bout

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has to be thinking he caught a lucky break. The Croatian wrecking ball’s back is against the wall – he’s 2-3 in the UFC and was considering everything from retirement to suicide before steeling himself for one last run at MMA glory.

And while his bout with Ben Rothwell at Saturday’s UFC 110 certainly favoured him, the news that Rothwell has dropped out due to illness and has been replaced on just 48 hours notice by Anthony Perosh has to make him feel just a little bit better, maybe steady those killer legs of his a little bit. After all, Perosh is a UFC nobody who went 0-2 against Jeff Monson and Christian Wellisch four years ago and has been fighting in his native Australia ever since.

Anything can happen in MMA, but if Cro Cop loses this – strike that, if Cro Cop doesn’t knock Perosh’s head off like he used to do to opponents back in his PRIDE days, well, he should take his gold watch and go home.