On April 21, 2007, Gabriel Gonzaga shocked the MMA world, separating legendary ex-PRIDE heavyweight Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic from his senses with a vicious, perfectly-timed head kick.
After a lifetime of victimizing people with shins to the dome, Cro Cop had been vanquished by his own signature move. It was akin to Hulk Hogan losing to a leg drop, or Randy Savage falling victim to a flying elbow drop from the top turnbuckle.
Nearly eight years after that stunning, career-defining victory, "Napao" will once again step into the cage opposite Cro Cop. The stakes are very different this time. Now it's a battle of heavyweights desperately trying to stay relevant.
"I wasn't expecting this fight," Gonzaga told MMAFighting.com's Guilherme Cruz. "I knew he was still fighting, but I had no idea he was coming back to the UFC. But I’m here to fight anyone they want, and this is a good fight. I haven’t watched his fights, but some friends did and told me he was fighting well and winning."
A talented grappler with immense power in his hands and feet, Gonzaga never reached the peaks suggested by his dusting of the Croatian kickboxer. In his next bout against another legend - then-heavyweight champion Randy Couture - Gonzaga was thoroughly dominated, sending him on uneven journey filled with wins and losses.
"This fight keeps me alive in the UFC," Gonzaga, who has lost consecutive bouts to Matt Mitrione and Stipe Miocic, said. "If I lose this fight, the UFC will probably… Everybody knows how the UFC works. Three losses, it's rare who stays in (the UFC) after that, and I want to stay in the UFC, so I have to win this fight.
"My goal is to win this fight the best way possible," he added. "In the first fight, I took him down and worked there, and saw an opening to throw the kick. He wasn’t expecting that. I believe he’s expecting everything this time, but I will try to finish him with a kick, a punch or a submission."
