Bloody Elbow, for MMA and UFC news

Roy Nelson, pictured here with Forrest Griffin and an epic beard, looks to be in the best shape of his career in advance of his fight with Mirko Cro Cop this Saturday at UFC 137. Nelson has also amped up his training camp, putting in time at Xtreme Couture, as well as with his last opponent, Frank Mir. UFC 137 coverage HT: MiddleEasy

Randy Couture denies rumors of wanting to fight Mirko Cro Cop: "Whats all this cro cop talk ? Ive made no comments on cro cop . I have a ton of respect for him but us fighting is kind of old news." HT: twitter.com/Randy_Couture UFC 118: Edgar vs Penn 2 coverage

Claude Patrick tells the UG forum that he's alright with Mirko Cro Cop snatching the submission-of-the-night bonus away from him at UFC 115: "up comes mirko cro-cop and pat barry I had ZERO fear this fight would end in a submission so it wasnt event on my radar in terms of costing me this cash heheh .. but it just goes to show this thing is themost dynamic sport in the world.. mirko takes 2 knock downs and comes back to do two things totally out of character 1- submit an opponent and 2- take the mic and start talking... god damn!!!!!! right there my heart broke starting to think this man may have really got sub of the night... in terms of technical application ill leave that up to the masses to decide but mirko is a legend in the sport and win lose or draw has put on some of the best fights ever so while i cant say im glad he took the CASH i can say if it had to be someone its not terrible that it was him :)"

Mirko Cro Cop cut in a pre-fight sparring, requires stitches: "Croatian website MMA Axion reported this morning that Filipovic was sparring with his team mate Sasa Mucnjak when he received a bad cut above the eyeline. The cut was stitched and Filipovic has declined to pull out of the fight, saying he will not let weeks of hard preparation go to waste." HT: mmaxion.com (via fightersonlymagazine.co.uk) UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez coverage

Mirko Cro Cop training with a real camp: Mirko now trains 1 time per day. After he loss to JDS he decided to go train under the world famous Muay Thai expert Ivan Hypollite of Vos Gym. "If only I was this smart at the age of 20. After all this I realize that you can not prepare well without a real camp and an authoritative coach. That's the biggest mistake in my career. I was to lazy to go train at an elite camp." "For example Hyppolite kills me on the pads and then I spar with three partners in a six minute round." But didn't you do that in your own gym with your croatian sparring partners? "I did, but then I couldn't spar to KO my sparring partner because those were mostly people who were training with me out of favor to me." "In Amsterdam it's a battle for life and death. I go for the KO and so does my sparring partner. In the future I think I will do 4 (consecutive) week preparations in Amsterdam." Mirko departed for Australia today. HT: vecernji.hr-- translated by travarica UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez coverage [vs. Ben Rothwell]

Mirko Cro Cop training hard for UFC 110, eyes UFC belt: "Juki (conditioning coach) killed me. He has never pushed me so hard. I thought the years have caught up with me but he says the training program has never been so intense. I could fall asleep right now told us CC on New years eve in his coffee bar Virage." "Josip Matkovic (a wrestler) is 193 cm (6'33 ft) and 145 kg (320 lb). He's so strong I can't put my arms around him. His regular sparring partner Sasa Mucnjak is only 200 cm (6'56 ft) and 122 kg (269 lb)." In a couple of days Mirko is going to Amsterdam for a three week training cycle with Ivan Hyppolite.The rare days Mirko is not training he spends time in his home town in Privlaka. "Spending time there is the best cure for any stress" says Mirko. Even though retirement looked to be near after the loss to Dos Santos, Cro Cop plans to fight at least 3 times in 2010. If he wins against Rothwell we could see him against Velasquez or Nogueira in May or June. "I want to start the year 2011 with the UFC belt around my waist." HT: jutarnji.hr UFC 110 coverage

Mirko Cro Cop Shakes Things Up, as He Makes Drastic Changes to His Training Camp In Preparation for His UFC 110 Bout Against Ben Rothwell: "After the defeat by Dos Santos, Filipovic has announced drastic changes in the training methods and composition of Team CroCop," "Marjan Zizanovic is no longer his boxing coach. Instead, CroCop is now working with the Dutch Muay Thai legend Ivan Hippolyte, who these days resides in Zagreb. Filipovic will combine training at his own facility with visits to the Netherlands where he can train with top-notch sparring partners," "Igor Pokrajac, CroCop’s long-time friend and sparring partner, is also no longer in Filipovic's team. Pokrajac continues his career with the UFC, but is no longer training with Filipovic although the pair remain on good terms." HT: Index.hr (Translated by Fighters Only)