"I wanted to prove to everyone that I'm not too old. They are wrong. I got to tell you my preparation for this fight was hardest preparation in my whole life. I won PRIDE open Grand-Prix but tonight my condition was better. I spent six weeks of training, training very hard, it was very hard sparring. We did sparring with professional UFC mma gloves and special headgear with a wire on. I almost broke my arm two weeks ago. It was last time when I went, one week before I came here I had to go x-ray again to check if it's broke. I was really dedicated you know. I just feel it now it was my big mistake, my preparation, my whole career. Living in Croatia, I don't have sparring partners. I don't want to bother people but I think this is important to say, I was frustrated when I came to UFC and sometimes in PRIDE. After a few minutes of, at the end of the first round I feel dead. It frustrated me why because I was able to do, with all respect to those guys, I was able to do 5 to 10 minute rounds on the punching bag at high tempo. But after 3 to 4 minutes in the fight I feel tired because I had no sparring partners. the punching bag is one thing and sparring is another. This fight I brought 2 to 3 professionals from Amsterdam and we trained really hard. I think my condition was very good. In the third round I was full of condition and I never felt so comfortable." -Mirko CroCop

Mirko CroCop (27-7-2 1 NC) earned a hard-fought victory and Submission of the Night over fellow kickboxer Pat Barry last Saturday at UFC 115, improving to 3-1 over his last four UFC fights.

For those who have longed for a return to the glory days of the man with the deadliest high kicks in MMA, CroCop's performance was a decided step in the right direction. 

Although at the end of the night the Croatian veteran finished Barry with a rear naked choke rather than one of his signature knockouts, he put up a solid three-round effort of the sort that fans haven't seen from him in years. 

Surviving two early knockdowns from Barry that left his face badly swollen, CroCop showed his experience and improved conditioning in the later rounds as he took control of the fight en route to the win. Along the way, CroCop also kept Barry off-balance with some rarely-used kicking techniques, landing one of the few axe kicks ever seen inside the Octagon.

With his victory in Vancouver marking the last fight on his UFC contract, it remains to be seen whether or not the 35 year-old CroCop will return for more, although UFC president Dana White has stated he would like to see him finish his career with the promotion.