Where Does Mirko CroCop Stand in the UFC Heavyweight Division?
by Michael Rome on May 18, 2009 10:27 PM EDT
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With the confirmation of Mirko's return at UFC 99, my mind is already racing ahead of his fight with Mustapha Al-Turk to other possibilities. People are right to say he's not the guy we once knew, but at the same time, is everyone positive that Frank Mir would beat Mirko CroCop? I know I'm not.
Fights with Shane Carwin, Pat Barry, Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Randy Couture, and Brock Lesnar all sound interesting to me. It's easy to forget guys like Velasquez don't have many fights, and despite their physical advantages Mirko is still a very tough fight for young heavyweights.
To be honest, the prospect of Mirko making a run at the title is far from impossible. Consider: does Mirko have a chance at beating Al-Turk, Shane Carwin, and Frank Mir in succession? I think the answer to that is yes. He's lucky to be in the weakest division around, and I'm excited to see what comes of this last run at glory for Mirko.
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is everyone positive that Frank Mir would beat Mirko CroCop? I know I’m not.
Mir would take CC’s left leg and put it on his mantle along with Sylvia’s arm and his 2 HW championships, CC needs to prove alot inside the cage before even talking about giving him a title shot.
I have a hard time seeing
Mirko handle Carwin and Lesnar, even Velasquez.
Kongo and Gonzaga both muscled him around and bullied him and they’re not even the real brutes of the division.
He really needs to cut down to 205 IMO.
"the spirit of your average dumbass with more overblown rhetoric" OR "the self-appointed savior of MMA"
I think he would fair much worse at 205, there are much more dynamic strikers there and I don’t know what that leaves him. At least he wouldn’t need to worry about getting pushed into the cage and kneed in the balls 50 times but he would also stand less chance of catching a slower opponent with a nice LHK.
That said I don’t think he really is likely to figure in the title mix at HW. I think Carwin, Mir, Lesnar would all eat him alive.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
by MonkeyCHops on May 19, 2009 12:49 AM EDT up reply actions
He doesn't beat Carwin.
It kills me to say that, but Shane is too young, too strong, and too fast. Cro Cop just doesn’t seem to have the will to fight anymore.
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on May 18, 2009 10:58 PM EDT reply actions
But just starting out on his career – fighting ages the body prematurely (cf Wandy, Big Nog.)
Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better. -Samuel Beckett
by Scott C. Broussard on May 18, 2009 11:32 PM EDT up reply actions
to answer the question posed in the title
nowhere…
good luck in life!
by georgehouse on May 18, 2009 11:14 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Dos Santos would brutalize him in my opinion, he is more likely to fight out of the same clinch that Kongo and Overeem used to beat his body, legs and testicles.
I guess this also means he is not re-matching Overeem as he said he would.
He also was supposed to fight Jerome LeBanner, Mighty Mo, a grappling match with Ralek Gracie, but all were postponed due to injuries and surgery much like the rematch with Overeem.
He did however find time to fight Hong Man Choi.
This is a far cry from the fighter who was chomping to get back in the ring after having foot surgery at the end of 2006.
I hope as a Cro-cop fan he comes to fight and more importantly comes to win. I don’t wanna see him get destroyed, and Al-Turk is not exactly a marquee fighter with a huge reputation behind him, but he has the power to knock out aging stars in the industry, he did put away former heavyweight star Mark Kerr.
fight to win or fight for a living?
Cro Cop has reached that turning point of his career when the opportunity to contend for a title may be over but he can still be competitive. But in the fight game, the ultimate goal is to be champion. If you can’t be champion, then what’s the point other than to make a living? He’ll be relegated to competing with mid-level talent or losing to top-tier talent.
Who knows? I sure think he can beat Kongo if he gets that magnet removed from his scrotum (or takes a DQ victory in the third when it’s handed to him on a silver platter), I think him against Herring would be awfully interesting… I’ll tell you what, I’ll take him over all but three non-UFC HW’s (and since he owns Josh Barnett’s soul, I’d probably pick him to win again), so huzzah for him being in the deepest HW division in the sport. It shows a genuine dedication to erase his past Octagon woes and reestablish himself as an elite fighter while he still can. I’m optimistic.
by Derek Suboticki on May 19, 2009 12:40 AM EDT reply actions
Well said. Kongo took his ability to have children and was a terrible fight to watch, a couple more and it could have been a NC or DQ. Taking that out of the picture he’s only had a freak loss to Gonzaga. Cro-Cop has great stand up and good submission defense, he’s not a walk in the park. After a few fights it will be easier to tell if he’s a long shot for title contention or more promising.
by toughaintenough on May 19, 2009 8:53 AM EDT up reply actions
I hate to break it but when you train out of your basement you cant hang with todays elite…
That shit plus some banned substances may have worked in pride when you were fighting pro-wrestlers but that shit wont cut it in todays UFC.
I don’t think Cro Cop was doping. In addition to his younger body he was just much more naturally comfortable in a ring where he can more easily cut off his opponents to set up his devastating head kicks. He had a very successful career in K-1 prior to MMA.
Also, I’ll wait until he loses at HW before saying he should drop down to 205. I don’t forsee him reaching the UFC HW title, but I’m not ready to write him off.
It realld depends on how he turns up
Lets not forget that Crocop was once the number 2 HW in the world. There was a reason for that and the reason was because he was damn good.
I see him losing to Carwin and Brock just because of sheer size. But I see him beating Dos Santos and maybe even Velazquez (I don’t actually see what the hype about this guy is about).
Crocop would almost definitely beat Frank Mir as well. In Crocop’s case – the key to his success is definitely his TD which – if good will allow him to climb much higher than many think.
I don’t see any reason for Mirko to drop to 205. In HW he is in what is probably UFC’s weakest division at the moment. Were he to drop to 205, he’d be in the strongest. While his recent performances haven’t exactly inspired a lot of confidence in his relevance in UFC, he’ll have one hell of a better shot at success in 265 than in 205.
by Monday Morning Martial Artist on May 19, 2009 3:54 AM EDT reply actions
al turk, shell of nog, then title shot is the easiest way to the title..
(unless the real nog shows up..)
It’s still so hard to tell why he did so poorly in his first UFC stint, like was he injured, uninspired, overconfident or just beaten with a better strategy? We’ve seen a few guys like Shogun, Cro Cop, Filho and others who were supposed to destroy everyone in their paths, fall short, even though they were destroying pretty much everyone they fought before. And then you find out that they had an injury or something – and what makes it so bad is that so many people blame their losses on an injury of some type, so it’s hard to tell when an injury is really at fault in a loss, or if they were just beaten by a better game plan. Some folks say Cro Cop was always overrated, or as stated above, he was just fighting lesser competition – which is a total falsehood – regardless, Cro Cop’s skill set was always top-notch. He beat Barnett and Wandy in the Pride Open Weight and he looked really impressive in doing so. Plus he’s beaten plenty of top competition or at least done fairly well against top guys in a loss. He also beat some good guys in K-1.
I believe that he can do really well in UFC – IF – he comes in with a good attitude and he has recovered from his injuries, like his leg. But then, I believed that the first time around and I was wrong. Either way I’m glad he’s back. I hope he does well this time. Nobody really knows how he will do, but it will be fun to find out!
Crocop doesn’t have that fire anymore. That killer instinct. If he shows up with it against Al Turk I’ll feel better about his chances but IMO yes he could beat Mir. Problem is Mir’s not gonna beat Lesnar lol
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
Mike Goldberg: "You know Joe, When Matt and his brother Mark Hughes were growing up, they would pound each other behind the barn."
by xFenixKnightx on May 19, 2009 8:49 AM EDT up reply actions
The answer, appears to be...
8th! Behold the BE Metarankings minus everyone not in the UFC:
4 Frank Mir
5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
6 Brock Lesnar
7 Randy Couture
10 Shane Carwin
12 Cheick Kongo
13 Junior dos Santos
15 Mirko Filipovic
Meanwhile, all this talk of him beating Al-Turk (not even making the top 25) and then deserving being ready to step into the title picture is… hopeful fanboy adoration. Sorry guys, but you’re all getting kinda man-crushy about this.
If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to admiring my life-size cardboard cut-out of GSP. So toned. Soooooo toned.
Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ. -- TangleBones
i am so happy im floating on cloud high
because my old man is strictly a UFC Freak we watch everything, but i got into all the old japanese stuff about two years ago and was pumping up cro cop when he came to the UFC, and then my dad laughed at me. Mirko if you somehow read this i need a cemetary to the head here to shut my old man up
I think CroCop will probably shortly have a seat next to Liddell
on the bus to “should retire” town.
I swear are people still on the thought that Mir is the same guy who could barely fight after his accident because I have news for you he just stopped Nog. CroCop would get his arm or leg ripped off if he stepped in to fight Mir at this point, the delusions of CC fans is quite amazing really.
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