Ten years after winning the PRIDE Open Weight tournament, 42-year-old Mirko Filipovic captured the Rizin FF Grand Prix Open Weight 2016 crown with two first-round knockout victories in one night and three victories in three days overall. “Cro Cop” (35-11-2) defeated Amir Aliakbari (4-1) by first-round knockout in the tournament final of Saturday’s online-streamed event at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, completing a run that started with a second-round TKO of Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal on Thursday. MIRKO is GREAT AGAIN ! What a fighter ! pic.twitter.com/PARRUZeR89 — Jolassanda (@Jolassanda) December 31, 2016 Filipovic opened the final night of the tournament by quickly advancing past the nearly 400-pound Kaido Hoovelson (3-1) for a first-round TKO in just 49 seconds. “Baruto” rushed “Cro Cop” and pressed him against the ropes to open the fight, but then Filipovic unleashed a perfectly placed knee to the body that caused his opponent to back away before falling to the canvas. Aliakbari had a much more difficult time punching his ticket to the final.