Remembering Mirko Cro Cop: The Pride Legend Will Never Fade

The fight between him and Fedor was the craziest amount of promotion ever. That was the biggest fight ever if you ask me.

Epic write-up.

Is like CroCop fans remembering his loss to Kevin Randleman fondly. It was shit on for the first 10 years of its release before finally gaining some respect, but was still a pretty weak album, especially after their debut.

The Blue Album, on the other hand, is probably the better nostalgic memory to hold on to for this comparison.

I know this is focusing on his MMA stuff, but his ‘99 K-1 WGP run and finishing Sapp in ’03 were epic too. Mirko’s the man, always will be.

Oh, and I dig the shot at Jeter!

That said, watching CC fight these days is like dating that girl who won’t put out, you’ll keep going back to that well and you’ll keep on coming home disappointed.

That is an amazing photo. I wish I knew who took it so I could give them credit. Great shot.

Strikers will always fade faster then grapplers( over reliance on speed vs. Technique) so it is what it is. I still like CroCop but I doubt he has anything for Mir. But boy would it make me happy to see one more left head kick before Mirkro fishes full time. I also love to see bjj win fights so either way I am psyched for this bout.

Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is dead and a gunshy, broken, old man is wearing his skin in the octagon. De-press-ing.

…war Cro Cop :(

So no mention of him beating Peter Aerts the 3 time K1 World GP champ and three time runner up, or Mark Hunt after he’d won the K1 World GP, or Sapp after he’d defeated Hoost twice in stunning fashion?

Or maybe being the main event in the largest attended event in MMA history – Pride Shockwave 2002?

Sure Jeter is getting older and his overall numbers are down this year but Not relevant anymore is quite laughable 80% of the short stops in Baseball would still sign up for his numbers this year. So I guess not relevant now is hitting 407% with a 11 hits and 5 runs and a OBP% of 429% in 6 games of the world series last year. Come on now eter not relevant to the Yankees – please

I’m not ready to rule it out yet. Mir has never been known for takedowns and he changes when he gets hit. I can’t think of another high level fighter that is more taylor made for sprawl and brawl. Mirko may not be Crocop any more, but he can still bang and Mir is no Barry when it comes to kickboxing.

Crocop took this fight for two reasons. 1. He has a warriors heart and doesn’t turn down fights. 2. The UFC parked a S#*t pile of money in front of him, in hopes of salvaging this PPV after Big Nog pulled out. That being said, Crocop isn’t going to come into a fight and embarrass himself by being tooled by Mir. He is going to give it his all and he just may put Mir away.

It really saddens me that I missed the entire Pride era. There’s a lot of DVDs, and the matches are still great, but it loses something when you already know who will win most of the big ones. Then again, I probably would have been flipping out and throwing things the day the UFC took over Pride, so at least I was spared that episode of outrage.

I’m a Mir fan, but this might be Cro Cop’s last chance at a Moment so it’s hard not to root for him.

Could you also write the same type of article on Saku, is it worthwhile you think? Well to me it is since I am a fan, but maybe all has been said on him already, unless you choose another topic on Saku that no one has speculated on him about, like his drinking habit, just kidding

Fantastic job, I might not like some of what you write, but the way you write is always excellent. The word usage in the piece was fantastic. Thanks for the posting.

CC’s staredown with Wandy + their fights = epic awesomeness. Thank you for being able to say what I was thinking in words.

No mention of his battles with Nog and Fedor? I love the back and forth that went on in those fights.

I know it probably won’t happen, but maybe we’ll all be surprised when we watch his fight with Mir. I’m glad CC beat Barry (and his axe kicks surprised me and had me jumping up and down), but that won’t cut it with Mir.

I’d actually really like to see CC rematch with Big Nog and even Gonzaga, too. I’d love it.

P.S. Jeter IS still relevant!!

and cannot come up with a way for Mir to win this fight. I just don’t see a scenario in my head outside of a lucky haymaker that has Mir winning.

Last sentence has a typo

Weezer is alright until Pinkerton and Jeter sucks cause he plays for the yankees.

Cro Cop will always be a favorite because of his Pride Highlight reel. Fans have a hard time giving up on Wand and Cro Cop because of their Pride careers. While other fighters have people turn their backs on them, these two along with Big Nog seem to be immune to this part of MMA fandom.

and watching those CC fights thinking, “Holy. Shit.” Dude scared the crap out of me for years. His name alone was enough to give me shivers. It’s sad seeing him now. I was ecstatic when he beat Barry, but it wasn’t the most amazing performance. He was lucky Barry broke a hand and foot and was too in love with CC to pounce on him when he had him down. Mir won’t make that mistake. I figure the Mir/CC fight will go similar to the Mir/Kongo fight. Mir will knock CC down, or get him down somehow, and then choke him out. I hope I’m wrong, cause I would give just about anything to see Mir’s head get kicked into the rafters.

Can anyone explain as to WHY CC has faltered? A lot of people tend to blame the cage. Is that a huge reason? Did he lose speed or accuracy? Power? Does he get hit easy or more often, did he lose head movement? Is it a matter of being more tentative and not throwing strikes as much?

Was the only thing the public ever got to see draw emotion out of Fedor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86K6I5mY2Y