BY JAMES BRYDON
sportsnet.ca

INDIANAPOLIS -- While local fans will be happy to see Indianapolis-native Chris Lytle competing in his hometown at UFC 119, there isn’t a fighter the UFC will be happier to see step into the cage Saturday than Mirko (Cro Cop) Filipovic.

After Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, the original opponent to headliner Frank Mir, had to pull out with an injury just a few weeks ago, the organization called on the Croatian veteran, hoping he could fill in to save their main event.

At Thursday’s pre-fight press conference in downtown Indianapolis, Cro Cop, who this summer hinted at retirement, was asked what made him agree to do so.

"Because Don Corleone sent me an offer I couldn’t refuse," said the 36-year-old heavyweight.

That reference, which is of course from the 1972 film The Godfather, was not likening Marlon Brando’s character to Dana White, as some might have thought, but rather UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, who phoned him and asked if he would do the organizers a big favour.

By obliging, Cro Cop doesn’t feel like the UFC is now in his debt. Echoing a sentiment he expressed on a conference call last week, he believes it’s quite the contrary.

"I feel like I have a responsibility to the UFC and its fans," Filipovic continued. "They’ve paid me well. And I’m a fighter; it’s my job."

While the UFC was thrilled to get a high-quality and much-celebrated opponent to step in on short notice, they suffered another scare late last week when it was reported that Cro Cop suffered an eye injury in training, now putting his participation in Saturday’s main event in jeopardy.

But it wasn’t long before the UFC was breathing a sigh of relief. Cro Cop explained he just simply suffered a small poke to the right eye while sparring -- it was "the last minute of the last round" of his training session last Friday. While wearing sunglasses Thursday, after his eye was visibly red the day before, he reiterated the eye is fine and he can see normally.

UFC president Dana White, who hosted the press conference, admitted they had no Plan B.

"We were just praying he was going to be okay," said White, who added that it’s going to be non-issue because, as much as they want this fight to be a go, the health and safety of the fighters always comes first.

"We don’t talk about whether a guy is fine or he’s not fine until we’ve had him checked out by the doctors. Mirko’s been checked out by doctors in Croatia, doctors here … He wouldn’t be fighting (Saturday) if his eye wasn’t okay."

Mir said, after already having to switch up his training for a new opponent once, when he heard about the injury, he got slightly paranoid and started looking at the card to see if there were any other heavyweights who might be able to move up to his slot.

He said he joked with Matt Mitrione, who is fighting Joey Beltran in one of two preliminary fights that will be shown on Sportsnet prior to the pay-per-view (9 p.m. ET on Sportsnet East/Ontario), that the recent Ultimate Fighter alumnus’s two career fights should give him plenty of experience to step up for a main event.

Mir and Cro Cop weren’t the only ones keeping the mood light on Thursday. White took a couple of jabs at Matt Serra’s height and Serra had fun with the idea that he was naturally going to be the hated one, as he takes on the hometown hero in Lytle.

Asked about how he’ll handle that come Saturday, Serra, who in the past fought Georges St-Pierre on his home turf, responded, "Do you mean am I prepared to get booed? Yeah, have you seen my Montreal fight?"

But Serra, who hails from New York where MMA is not yet sanctioned, attempted to endear himself to the Indianapolis crowd with his words about his opponent.

"Chris is such a nice guy that even if we were to fight in New York, they might be booing me there."

The 36-year-old Lytle, a veteran of 51 fights and is also known as a family man, explained how he is able to turn it around once inside the Octagon.

"I've got four kids so I've got a lot of pent-up rage," Lytle joked. "Kids are little, I can’t hit them, so I have to hit somebody else. I just bottle it up and suppress it until I get in the cage and then I let it go. It’s my therapy session, it’s either that or go to a therapist. It’s a lot cheaper this way.

"And don’t even get me started about my wife!"

The co-main event for UFC 119: Mir vs. Cro Cop sees Nogueira’s twin brother, Antonio Rogerio, take on the undefeated Ryan Bader in a light-heavyweight matchup. Bader, who was a winner of Season 8 of TUF, as a member of Team Nogueira, doesn’t believe his opponent will gain much of an advantage from him being coached by his brother, saying he’s an "entirely different fighter" than he was when he was on the reality show two years ago.

NOTES: The media workouts were open to the public and a decent crowd of roughly 50 fans showed up -- some had even lined up a couple of hours before it began. They were invited to ask questions after the media, and one even offered White one of his tickets up in a higher section to see a fan’s perspective of the show. "You are a gentleman," White responded. … Matt Serra was presented the Tequila Cazadores Spirit award, given to the fighter who most demonstrates social responsibility, dedication to their art form and good sportsmanship. Serra will have $1,000 donated in his name to the Ronald McDonald house, with which he has done some work back in his home state of New York. "It’s probably the only cheers I’ll get the whole time I’m here," Serra quipped as he accepted the award.