Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic was victorious at UFC 99 in Germany on Saturday night.

The Croatian fighter went into Cologne knowing that failure to win would raise further questions about his UFC career after failing to live up to his high-profile signing.

But against the unfancied Mostapha Al-Turk, Cro Cop won following a poke to the eye and a barrage of punches.

Al-Turk was dropped and referee Dan Miragliotta stopped the fight, with Cro Cop being declared the winner.

Filipovic apologised for the eye poke after the fight, but said it didn’t make a difference to the outcome of the fight.

In his defence, it was hard to spot and hard to place blame on either the fighter or the referee for missing it.

Elsewhere, Mike Swick recorded a second-round win over Ben Saunders after the fight was stopped after Swick landed a number of hard blows.

Post-match, Swick called out champion Georges St. Pierre, #1 contender Thiago Alves and Matt Hughes as he closes in on a title shot.

Phil Lowe
phil@ifight365.com