‘Cro Cop’ down but never out

After 10 minutes of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, it looked like his comeback would be very short-lived.

Filipovic, one of the most feared strikers in MMA history, was unable to launch much of an offensive attack and allowed Gabriel Gonzaga to take him down and do damage in each of the first two rounds.

Bloody, battered and trailing on all three scorecards, the 40-year-old Filipovic was far from worried.

“I believed I could win and I believed I would win,” he said in the post-fight news conference. “I had great preparation and I trusted myself. I was ready for five rounds, but I knew it wouldn’t go to the end. Even though I was cut, even though I was on the ground twice, I felt good and confident.”

His belief proved warranted. Filipovic caught Gonzaga on the ground with an elbow and followed with a series of punches and elbow strikes to finish the fight in the third round in the main event of the UFC’s first card in Poland on Saturday.

“I was excellently prepared for this fight. I knew I had time. It was a must-win situation for me. I just knew I had to beat him,” Filipovic said. “He’s a tough guy and I needed to stay away from him early in the fight. It was our plan and I know it just sounds like something I’m saying now, but the plan was to get him to move in the first and second rounds to tire him out and then finish him in the third and that’s exactly what happened.

“I had a great game plan, I prepared hard and I did it. I’m so proud of myself and my team.”

Filipovic left the UFC in 2011 after three straight losses and considered retirement. Instead, he picked up three wins outside the organization and decided to return at least in part to start avenging some of his prior losses. This was a start as he had lost to Gonzaga in 2007.

Exactly how far the 40-year-old takes his comeback remains to be seen.

“I just think how I’m going to get to the hotel, get my things, get in the van and get back to (Croatia). That’s all I’m thinking about right now,” he said. “I don’t think about my next fight, I don’t know. First rest, (then) heal some small wounds. I had a problem with my shoulder in preparation and little problems with my knee. It was OK for the fight, but I felt it in preparations. Maybe get that fixed and then we’ll see.”

UFC RETURNS TO FOX — The organization returns to network television for the second time this year with an event Saturday on Fox.

Luke Rockhold will fight former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida in the main event.

The winner would likely be next in line for a middleweight title shot.

Another middleweight bout pits Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza against Chris Camozzi. Souza had been scheduled to fight Yoel Romero, but he had to withdraw due to a leg injury just over a week before the fight.

Reno’s Paige VanZant, 21, will bring a great deal of hype into a main card matchup against Felice Herrig.

The event, which will take place in Newark, N.J., will air live at 5 p.m. The preliminary card will air on Fox Sports 1 (Cable 329) at 3 p.m.

MIR TO HEADLINE IN SAN DIEGO — Las Vegan Frank Mir will fight Todd Duffee in a five-round main event at UFC Fight Night 72 in San Diego on July 15.

Mir snapped a four-fight losing streak with a first-round knockout of Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva in February.

Duffee has won three straight fights by first-round knockout, including two straight since returning to the UFC. He was once one of the most promising heavyweights in the UFC, but was released after a stunning loss to Mike Russow in 2010.

Health issues have limited Duffee to just three fights in the last four years. He publicly requested a matchup with Mir, a former heavyweight champion.

The card will also feature a lightweight bout between Tony Ferguson and Josh Thomson.

MALDONADO GETS NEW OPPONENT — While the legal saga pitting the UFC and Quinton Rampage Jackson against his former employer Bellator Fighting Championships is expected to continue for some time, the show must go on.

Jackson was pulled from a scheduled UFC 186 bout against Fabio Maldonado last week after a court granted Bellator an injunction to keep Jackson from competing for the UFC until contractual issues are resolved.

UFC officials announced Maldonado will instead face Steve Bosse in a light heavyweight bout on April 25 in Montreal.

Bosse, a 32-year-old former NHL player, had decided to retire due to nagging injuries shortly after signing with the UFC last year. He changed his mind after this opportunity was presented. Bosse is 10-1 as a professional mixed martial artist, but hasn’t competed in nearly two years.

“At the moment, Jackson and his representatives plan to appeal the court’s order, but with the event drawing nearer, the UFC has had to take action to ensure a suitable replacement was found to face Maldonado,” the organization stated in a release.

The pay-per-view card is headlined by a flyweight title fight between Kyogi Horiguchi and champion Demetrious Johnson.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.