Cro Cop focused his game on his kickboxing acumen and skill to avoid being taken to the ground. He made use of powerful yet technical striking, epitomized by his famous left roundhouse kick to the head, sometimes combined with a fast left straight punch in order to open position. Despite the relative predictability of his technique, Cro Cop was able to hit it consistently by speed and timing, gaining 28 KO/TKO wins in his career, of which four were by head kick alone. Towards the end of his career, his signature left high kick became more and more anticipated by his opponents, with Cro Cop even saying once, "Everybody is studying my fights. It's harder and harder to land the high kick. Everybody is expecting the high kick. It's much easier to do it at the beginning of your career." On the other hand, his defense featured a signature left sidestep used to avoid his adversary's lunges and a solid ability to sprawl, having stopped takedowns from Olympian caliber wrestlers such as Mark Coleman, Olympic judoka champions like Hidehiko Yoshida, wrestling champions like Kazuyuki Fujita or veteran wrestlers like Heath Herring and judoka and sambist Aleksander Emelianenko. Though always focused on striking, Cro Cop developed ground fighting skills over time, being adept in fighting from his back and recovering the standing position. His persona has inspired many newer generation fighters, notably Demetrious Johnson, who once referred to Cro Cop after his record-breaking title defense, saying, "There was a long time ago in PRIDE: (Mirko) 'Cro-Cop' (Filipovic), it was his birthday, and he had that look on his face like nobody was going to take that championship away from him... That's how I felt (Saturday). I felt like no one was going to take this away from me." Failed drug test On November 25, 2015, USADA announced that Filipović received a 2-year sanction for his anti-doping policy violations of the UFC Anti-Doping Policy. Filipović admitted to the use, attempted use, and possession of human growth hormone (hGH) following an out-of-competition test conducted on November 4, 2015 in Zagreb, Croatia. Personal life Cro Cop and his wife have two sons, Ivan and Filip. In the 2004-05 season of the Croatian Second Football League, Cro Cop played for his hometown football club, HNK Cibalia, participating in the final 8 minutes of a match against HNK Vukovar. Cro Cop is fluent in English. Film