Comments on: Report: Mirko Cro Cop leaves UFC and will fight for DREAM in Japan

By: Jacq

Jacq — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:04:07 +0000

I’m not a die hard cro-cop fan but I’ll give my two cents worth. I doubt that cro-cop is running from the UFC, it sounds to me like the UFC is running from him and I can’t blame them. I wouldn’t want to be Dana White dropping $350K per fight on a guy who doesn’t show up. Seriously, nobody was disappointed after the Gonzaga fight…it was the other two where Mirko didn’t even show up to fight. Yes, he beat Sanchez but it was hardly exciting. I still think Mirko could make it in the Octagon if he was determined to learn to fight there but it seemed to me that he was complacent and didn’t care and for that I wouldn’t pay either.

By: patrickgamil

patrickgamil — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 00:41:52 +0000

he is a great athlete, but think about it.
kickboxing has the ref breaking things apart. keeping it( within the rules) a striking sport.
Pride had a ground game so he had to adapt entirely. it’s like a tennis player having to learn squash. if he was great he’d probably do well - but might not make the elite. he did well in pride by adapting. he was able to keep it standing a lot of the time in pride. the ropes are bouncy so if he was against the ropes with Kongo as opposed to the cage he’d have had an easier time adapting from his original style. Gonzaga had his number and Crocop was out of it before he had a chance to get into it.

ufc favours wrestler not only for the solid cage walls but elbows.
better for clinchers, wreslers GnP specialists.

Pride favored movers. Matt hughs would not have dominated in Pride, Couture might not have done as well. Kongo and Gonzaga are tough opponents too.

Fedor may have more succes in the octagon if that happens. but even for him I predict his sambo stuff could get a little clogged and congested with the cage breaking up the fluidity.

He is verstile and adapting though.

If I was CroCop and I still wanted to fight MMA I’d take some time off and try some BJJ, grappling and competein low level stuff. maybe that’s sort of what DREAM will give him a chance to do - regroup

By: Rajman

Rajman — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:36:51 +0000

Cro Cop will be back tho…like he said he’s going to Dream for a few tune-up fights to get some wins going and his confidence back! He will defintetly be back in the UFC…Dana has agreed with this move, as he knows it will be the best for both Cro Cop and himself, Cro Cop will come back like the old him and Dana would be more confident of a Cro Cop win! I loved Cro Cop’s response to Kongo about needing steroids to fight:
“I have a message for Kongo. Listen, I thought that you are a sportsman, a professional like everyone else in this. You were lucky enough to fight against me during the deepest crisis of my career. You probably ate a lot of vegetables and potatoes to look like that? I’ll be back in the cage and I hope you will be in the opposite corner. Then we’ll see for how long you’ll be able to talk.”

By: Nav

Nav — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 18:35:50 +0000

to be quite honest, i think that once the new DREAM organization gets up and running, you will see a lot of fighters from the UFC jumping ship and heading of to Japan! Dana is ruining the career or many fighters right about now! Many of the pride fighters the UFC aquired just dont look the same or have the same enthusiasm they had in pride. I think DREAM is going to become MASSIVE very quickly!

By: sport520

sport520 — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 17:32:04 +0000

Cro cop was not use to the rules of the Octagon. I am glad he finally realized it! He should have done with fedor did, just observe to see how Pride fighters do in the Octagon. Once fedor saw the wooping cro cop took, it was M-1 time. Good job Cro cop, he be kicking people’s heads off in no time. Under the japanese rules cro cop will feel right at home. Cro cop please stay away from another caged fighting venue, please!

By: YouTapped

YouTapped — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:46:48 +0000

I heard about this thru the grapevines here in croatia and I am very excited about this.

Some things just don’t mix, like Cro Cop and the octagon. He was never comfortable with a cage around him, missed the ability to corner an opponent in the ring (anyone remember Eddie Sanchez’ marathon?) and I also believe he missed being able to slip away from being pinned against the ropes instead of a solid cage. Anyone one you guys got pressed against the cage shirtless and tried to slip away? Well, I tried, and its not very pleasant.

I believe we saw similiar things with BigNog to be honest and don’t think he’ll be able to hold on to that title for too long. With Fedor, Randy, Josh Barnett and CroCop outside of the UFC heavyweight division it sure doesn’t look as strong as it used to be just half a year ago.

By: Ray

Ray — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 07:46:35 +0000

[quote comment=”312151″]Ray is wrong. Head-to-head, in a ring (definitely!) or even the octagon (probably), Cro-Cop would expose Chuck for what he is…a decent striker with good takedown defense. Chuck has never gone up against K-1 level striking competition, and wouldn’t fare well if he did. After seeing how Jardine figured out and exploited Chuck’s game, can you honestly tell me CC couldn’t do the same? The only difference is that CC would probably end it with a punch or kick like Rampage did…only CC strikes harder than Rampage (especially with his feet!)

Oh, and the main thing Kongo “exploited” were the UFC rules (?) with all those knees to the groin.[/quote]

First and foremost, the comparison with Chuck to “Cro Cop” is not head-to-head! I merely compared how one has responded to coming back from two losses in a row with a win, that being The Iceman. “Cro Cop” after two losses in a row responded by quitting and moving on to fight weaker competition in an upstart organization. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who the weaker fighter is.

You are correct though about Chuck not facing K-1 competition, Chuck hasn’t stepped DOWN to fight inferior strikers! But that is exactly what your boy is doing now. That’s why there’s the UFC and then everyone else. “Cro Cop” beat one up and coming fighter by the name of Eddie Sanchez and then got dominated by Gonzaga, and got owned at his own game, a brutal kick to the dome! Kongo took him the distance and fought “Cro Cop’s” fight and Mirko couldn’t do jack! He had time to recover after the groin shots, so don’t use that lame sorry ass excuse. Kongo worked him for 3 solid rounds and your boy didn’t have an answer! Mirko will never be a UFC Champ and is two levels below Liddell!

By: JP

JP — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 05:01:08 +0000

Ray is wrong. Head-to-head, in a ring (definitely!) or even the octagon (probably), Cro-Cop would expose Chuck for what he is…a decent striker with good takedown defense. Chuck has never gone up against K-1 level striking competition, and wouldn’t fare well if he did. After seeing how Jardine figured out and exploited Chuck’s game, can you honestly tell me CC couldn’t do the same? The only difference is that CC would probably end it with a punch or kick like Rampage did…only CC strikes harder than Rampage (especially with his feet!)

Oh, and the main thing Kongo “exploited” were the UFC rules (?) with all those knees to the groin.

By: RobH86

RobH86 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 22:05:46 +0000

[quote comment=”310350″]Mirko…..crocop……i was a big fan man. I can say to all you people who said Mirko would never cut it in the UFC… you were right and i was wrong. I thought he would dominate, i am disappointed. Unless he comes back to the UFC and beats all of those who have beaten him, he will forever be seen as a second rate mixed martial artist…at best. Real men get back up when they get knocked down![/quote]

Yep. I concur, sadly. He was a good kickboxer, so-so mixed martial artist it seems. I think it’s time to talk about him in the past tense.

By: markg

markg — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:12:25 +0000

Agreed ufc is not dying just cos a couple of heavyweights took off… if it was then why are gr8 cards like 82 coming up. It’s looking like a great year for ufc and excited to see all the great fights they present us. Hope arlovski stays however…gna be a 1st round knock out for the pitbull