One of the storylines that some of the major MMA media have been focusing on in the aftermath of UFC 110 has been the poor performance that Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic displayed in his beatdown of Anthony Perosh, a fellow Croatian fighter who took the fight on short notice. While most fans are acknowledging the fact that Mirko was completely dominant in the victory over Perosh, many writers are down on Mirko for not being able to destroy a fighter at that level in quicker fashion:
Yes, Cro Cop thoroughly dominated Perosh, left him covered in blood and won by TKO, but Cro Cop did less than I thought he should do: The Cro Cop of old would have knocked Perosh out in the first round, not toyed with him for 10 minutes. Perosh, meanwhile, did more than I thought he should do: After taking the fight on just two days' notice, he showed a lot of heart in continuing to fight even after that nasty cut opened up on his forehead late in the second round. (Michael David Smith, MMAFighting.com)
Josh Gross over at Sports Illustrated was a bit more reserved:
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (26-7-2) may have earned the 20th stoppage victory of his career, but it was hardly his most impressive win. Appearing slow and sluggish, he needed 10 minutes to put away Anthony Perosh, who met the veteran heavyweight slugger on two-day's notice.
I'm not going to disagree with Gross in the assessment that Mirko was slow and sluggish. He did look visibly a bit more powerful than in previous outings, but I'm assuming Gross' evaluation stems from the fact that Mirko didn't press the pace enough to finish off a crushed Perosh in the first or second round.
It wasn't an impressive victory in the context of Mirko's past victories. He didn't head kick Perosh into unconsciousness or punch him out with the tenacity we've seen during his PRIDE days. But that's my problem entirely. The expectations from some fans and writers are that if Mirko isn't performing at that level, he's worthless in terms of entertainment value and done with this sport.