Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic vs Alistair Overeem at DREAM 6

According to Croatian News site Dnevnik.hr, Dream has officially confirmed that Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic will return to the ring on September 23rd at Dream 6: Middle Weight Grand Prix 2008 Final to take on Dutch striker Alistair Overeem.

After two devastating back to back losses in the UFC forced him to reevaluate his career as a fighter, the 33 year old Croatian Commando got back on the horse and defeated Tatsuya Mizuno at Dream 1: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 First Round in March.

Filipovic was right at home in Japan and back on the stage where he flourished as a fighter in the early days of Pride. It has now been five months since that victory and Crocop is ready to polish his skills and begin the trek up the heavyweight ladder to hopefully get a rematch with the undisputed heavyweight king of the world.

"However, Cro Cop is ready and confident of victory. Previously, only to the New TV, said that his objectives are to capture the belt in Dream, and hopefully a possible fight in December - with Fedor."

According to Dnevnik, Crocop has fully recovered from his knee surgery that caused him to miss two fights already this year.

Mirko will take a giant leap in the level of competition he is facing in Alistair Overeem. Crocop’s first fight back from the UFC against Mizuno was more like a warm up fight for the experienced veteran.

Overeem is on a three fight win streak most recently defeating Mark Hunt at Dream 5: Lightweight Grand Prix 2008 Final via a keylock. While Alistair has struggled in his last 10 fights only winning 50% of them, he lost to some of MMA’s best including Sergei Kharitonov, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Ricardo Arona, and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira. No shame in losing to that group of elite fighters.

Dream 6: Middle Weight Grand Prix 2008 Final, which will feature the final round of the Middleweight Grand Prix, takes place at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama Japan on September 23rd.

Source: www.redsweat.com