Cro Cop: All of you who want to fight for the money, forget it!

Mirko Filipovic has decided to send a message to everyone who appears before him in recent years and who have a great desire to engage in martial arts.

Apparently many are counting on entry into the world of combat sports for the money, but Cro Cop warns that this is the wrong way of thinking and thus are unlikely to get very far, especially not to a superior level.

"I received a lot of messages with questions related to training, and considering that I can not respond specifically to everyone, I will write it like this, so that all who are interested can easily see. The last one who wrote to me was a 17 years old boy asking whether he is to old to begin training, cause 'many' told him he is too old. Nonsense, those are the ideal years to start with serious training and please don't listen to people who have no idea about anything and feel dubbed to share lessons more or less about everything, and the only contact with martial arts for them were few seen shows of Fight Club on Eurosport."

"It's never too late to start practicing sports in general, and that refers to martial arts as well. Of course, to a man dealing with professional sports (from now on I'm just talking about martial arts), he should begin no later than about 18-19 years, and a lot depends on the genetic structure of the body, the talent and persistence, and each man is a special in this view. The biggest problem is the motive with which people enter the sport. Those who want to do martial arts to 'take the money', will never see the money."

"One guy wrote that he wants to involve in MMA, that he is 23 and wonders on how much profit he can count (I guess he wants to plan when to purchase). He will never see a nickle. Combat sports must be love, not a job, it should be strive for progress to be better than sparring partners, gradually to be the best in the club, to expand the horizons of local events. Opportunity for something more will come on itself if you possess the quality, but until then it MUST be a game and love, because who thinks about money, will never see it."

"That's how it is, it's the law of the sport. Everybody who did something, began so they can develop physically and mentally, to strengthen and to acquire the discipline, so they eventually proved to be an extraordinary talent, and then the opportunity for fights and earnings came by itself, and nobody of us planned that when we started with training. Some guys who have written  to me about this, read this pretty well and remember this, because I am completely right when I write you this." - said Mirko to all young fighters and those who would like to become.

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Cro-Cop on Blake's dirty move

The main fight of the K-1 event in Tokyo had a very disputable situation - Blake hitting Mirko Cro-Cop in a situation when the Croatian fighter reached his hand as a sign of apology.

Red corner jumped a minute before the end of the third round when the American fighter Randy Blake gave Mirko a "cheap" hit after he offered an apology for the punch he was going to make, but in the end he didn't.

However, although the Croatian fans reacted extremely sharp, like most around the world, "bad blood" between Mirko and Blake doesn't exist. They met in the hallway right after the fight and they even photographed together.

"I turned away from him and I wanted to give him a friendly hand, and he hit me. He made a good clean hit in the chin. I was not shaken or knocked down, more surprised. It was certainly a bit unsportsmanlike and dirty, but I'm an experienced fighter and I have to protect myself at every minute during a fight, so I have no hard feelings. This is such a sport, and I have to be careful in these situations" - said Mirko after the fight.

Mirko started the fight little more restrained at the beginning , but that obviously was the plan, and Cro Cop is very pleased with what he did:
"I felt great in the match. There had been no muscle cramps or something similar. Now I feel good. Superbly. If the tournament went on, I could immediately go into the next match. I'm delighted about that."
Blake complained a bit to the situation during the second round when the referee counted him because he was knocked down, but he claimed that he had received a blow to the genitals. "It was a clean hit above the belt. I'm sure of that and the judge counted him fairly." added Mirko on the subject.
Although Blake's incorrect move didn't leave that impression, the American still greatly appreciates Croatian fighter:
"It was a privilege to fight you. Thank you for this opportunity. You're a legend of the sport and you deserved to win." Blake referred to Mirko during a meeting after the match.
It's still unknown who will be Mirko's next opponent, because now that is determined by drawing lot, and Mirko watched performances of other fighters as much as he could:
"There were some excellent fights. Morosanu and Slowinski made a terrific match. They were just torn up. It's all a lottery. Gerges couldn't walk after the fight, and he is a top fighter. There are eight hazardous boys left and whoever the draw grants me, it will not be easy."said Cro Cop after the match in Tokyo.
Otherwise, Mirko earned lower left leg injury during the match with Blake. He earned a cut and the first estimation was that it had to be sewed, but the situation still turned out to be a little bit better than it seemed at first sight. The cut is long about eight inches and doctors thought  to sent Mirko immediately to sewing, but after they cleaned the injury and gave a better view, they decided it's better to heal on itself.

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After four years of absence, Cro Cop enjoys divine status in Japan

Croats and Japanese have so little in common. Maybe it's even better to say nothing except that Mirko Filipovic is a hero to both nations. In Croatia he is one of the icons of sports scene, and in Japan is practically a deity. Although he didn't fought for four years in the Land of the Rising Sun, most Japanese will bow down to the floor even if you only mention his left hand, and in their eyes you will see the passion that has not disappeared despite the huge crisis that hit the combat sport in this country.
If you are a Croat, the first thing you'll face at the same minute you enter Japan is - Aaaa Mirko Cro Cop!, with gesticulations matching those of Mirko, which shows the love and respect they cherish for him. The legend lives on ..
Lets get back to the beginning of the story. Croats and Japanese really have nothing in common. They are quiet, humble, hard-working, their society is governed as the finest pharmacies. Always thinking of others first, and then about themselves. And Croats are ... Maybe it's better not to go into details and explain, but the differences are obvious. Cro Cop still manages to connect both extremes and to connect these two nations. The Japanese have recognized in him a samurai spirit, maximum commitment to the sport and martial indisputable quality. Even now, when he is no longer in his prime and best results are behind him, Filipovic has remained a great professional. On an extremely important match against Randy Blake, who follows him on Sunday, Cro Cop arrived in the Japanese metropolis with his team almost a week earlier in order to acclimate maximally and that nothing would be left to chance.
At the age of 38 attention should be payed to every detail, knowing that even the smallest details are important, and Randy Blake is a serious task that must be completed successfully, and then prepare for an assault on the K-1 title that escaped from him in 1999th.
Now his motivation is bigger, the desire even stronger. The bad episodes in the UFC awakened additional defiance, his team says he is maximum ready, completely healthy and "alight" to the limit. Frankly speaking, the opportunity that it's offered to him is unique and hardly will be repeated ever again.
Laschenko, Gerges, Catinas, Londt - names that certainly should not be underestimated, but with his quality and experience, Cro Cop still stands out as one of the favorites. Matches against Sefo and Lorena were a good guide, although all of the team and Filipovic himself are aware that room for improvement still exist.
American karate fighter on the other side of the ring will be a great indicator of whether the progress is achieved. Is Mirko completely "transformed" on kick boxing and big gloves.
After a few days of quality training in Tokyo, Cro Cop reserved Friday for rest and relaxation. In the afternoon hours he only did easier stretching which is understandably ahead of tomorrow's pretty busy day. On Saturday, the organizers, in fact, planned to double the program - the official weigh-in and press conference at which the public will be presented to all couples. What the most important thing is, according to Cro Cop coach - Mirko acclimated and adapted to weather and climate change.
Unfortunately, the organizers did not succeed in the promotion of the K-1 Final 16 tournament. Although Cro Cop remains a "heart attack" on the streets of Tokyo, very few know that Filipovic will compete on Sunday in the Japanese capital. With all the effort you could not find a single poster, video on TV or a billboard announcing the K-1 tournament. When you have a super star who filled Saitama Super Arena to the last seat and breaks all box office records in Japan in martial arts, then you must use that. People who now lead the K-1 clearly have their own, another vision of how to re-popularize the sport and return it to the path of the old glory. But it's still another story that should be left for another time ..

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Tour de France - TOUR DE DOPING

ASTOUNDING FACT! 

In the last 15 years, astonishing 12 times the title was deprived from the winner of the Tour de France. Even one-third of all competitors in the Tour de France from 1998 to 2012 took "candies" and only in the last edition is (still) not detected any rider among the top 10 that used banned substances. The greatest disappointment in this statistics is the name of the legend - Lance Armstrong, who admitted the charges of the US doping agency one month ago. 

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Messi and C.Ronaldo are payed poorly?

Despite the fact that football is "the world's most important side issue", that is slowly but surely becoming more business than sport, players are far behind their colleagues in other sports in terms of salaries. Just don't show this article to Cristiano Ronaldo.

After Cristiano Ronaldo said last month that he was sad, Spanish media have speculated that the reason for his sadness is small salary. He is one of the best players on the planet, but even nine other players have higher salary than him.

In what kind of a depression will he fall if he finds out that his salary is equal to that of the 52nd best paid baseball player of the MLB league?

Cristiano Ronaldo's salary in Real Madrid is about $13 million per year, and it's a minimal compared with other sports. He receives as much as the wage of Andrew Bogut of the Golden State, the 36th best paid basketball player in the NBA, than Matt Ryan, the 13th best paid rugby player from Atlanta Falcons and Travis Hafner, 52nd on the list of best paid baseball players  in the MLB league.

Lionel Messi with $13.6 million is at the same level with Tyson Chandler from New York Knicks, which is 29th best paid in the NBA, the same as the 10th best paid in the NFL and 49th in MLB.

The only football player that to some extent can be worn with the salaries of the players from other sports is the best paid footballer on the planet, Samuel Eto'o. His salary in Anzhi is about $26 million per year, which is much more than the best paid NFL player (Dwight Freeney $19 million).

However, Eto'o earns less than the best paid basketball player Kobe Bryant ($27.8 million) and best paid baseball player Alex Rodriguez ($30 million).

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Morning rituals of champions - urine instead of coffee

Trainers and doctors say that diet is one of the most important factors for good shape, but some athletes don't agree with this. This are the strangest ways of nutrition among athletes.

Michael Phelps champion nutrition consists of 12,000 calories per day, or six times more than any normal person. Among other things, it includes eating 8 eggs and three chocolate pancakes for breakfast, he eats pasta and two large sandwiches with ham, cheese and mayonnaise for lunch and eating one pound of pasta and pizza for dinner.

During the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, swimmer Ryan Lochte fed exclusively at McDonalds. He had his breakfast, lunch and dinner there, bringing in between 8,000 to 10,000 calories a day. But this unhealthy diet didn't prevent Lochte to win four gold medals at this Olympics.

Legendary baseball player of NY Jankees, Babe Ruth, was known for his routine which consisted of three hot-dogs before match, and he used to wake up every morning with one  glass of whiskey.

NFL rugby player, Chad Ochocinko also loves McDonald's. Similar as Lohti, he often eats three main meals consisted of burgers. "Do not be convinced that McDonald's food is harmful. Eat what you want, but train properly, and you'll have no problem" claims Ochocinko.
Lamar Odom of the LA Clippers is never enough of candy. He eats 4-5 packets of chocolates every day, and often wakes up at night and can not fall asleep until he doesn't eat a few candies.
Candie addict is also NFL rugby player Marsawn Lynch who even consumes them during a match.
Brazilian UFC champion Lyoto Machida every morning drinks his own urine. This is routine he learned from his father who comes from Japan and is a former karate champion. They claim drinking urine is like a vaccine and has a healing effect.

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