"To my great pleasure, I signed a contract with American UFC for three more fights,” Filipovic said during an interview with Croatian website Index. "The first will be in Dallas September 19th against Brazil’s Junior dos Santos.”

“He is a lion, one of the emerging stars along with Cain Velasquez, who is foremost," he said of dos Santos. "I know that because of training with Minotaur [Nogueira], that he is a very good boxer and a great grappler. I saw his knockout against Werdum and his last fight, in which he also got the knockout. Overall, he is a great fighter, never to be underestimated. However, I expect victory.”

Cro Cop hopes to eventually get a shot at the UFC heavyweight championship, but admits that he needs to beat some tough competition before winning the gold.

“Competition is extremely strong,” he admitted. “There are several legends like Couture and Minotauro, and strong fighters like Lesnar, Mir, Velasquez, Carwin . . . I should go fight by fight and be focused on what is next."

As for current UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, Cro Cop said that he wasn't impressed with his skills. He went on to say that a few “good low kicks” could take the former WWE star down.

"His victory (against Mir) is a defeat for the sport as such," Cro Cop stated. "Don’t get me wrong, Lesnar is a fearsome and very dangerous opponent, but I am old school, I prefer skill and technique. This win was a defeat of martial skills. Much of what he achieved in the fight is a result of pure power . . . Of course, Lesnar has quality sparring partners, is an experienced wrestler and a man who learns very quickly. But he is yet to have a real struggle.”

One fighter Cro Cop does respect and hopes to fight again is Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor had defeated Cro Cop when they met at PRIDE: Final Conflict four years ago.

"This is a man who I very much appreciate and respect and he is very dear person," Cro Cop noted of Fedor. "Of course, I would be delighted were he to come to the UFC because that would open the possibility of another fight between us. I still have a great desire for revenge against him."