Mirko Cro Cop: Leg injury and schedule change not a factor in upcoming fight against Jerome LeBanner
By: Jesse Holland
Former UFC and PRIDE heavyweight Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic will fight K-1 superstar Jerome LeBanner on at DREAM 5 on July 20 — not at DREAM 4 on June 15 as originally planned — according to Nokaut.com.
While it was reported by Javno.com that Cro Cop suffered a minor knee injury during training, X-Rays revealed no damage and the Croat is continuing his preparations as normal.
Quoteworthy:
“Yes, I’m going to fight on July 20. I was looking forward to appearing on the DREAM 4 card on June 15 and I based my preparations on that. I suffered a minor leg injury last week, but it doesn’t affect my trainings. During a wrestling session, I slipped and felt pain in my left knee, but the medical exams have confirmed that no damage was done. I’m wearing a special bandage just as a precaution.”
Cro Cop most recently recovered from back-to-back losses inside the Octagon (Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo) to take out Tatsuya Mizuno with ease during the inaugural show for DREAM last month. He has vowed to put together at least three consecutive wins and return to the UFC as early as January 2009 to redeem himself.
However, a rematch with Fedor Emelianenko on New Year’s Eve possibly stands in his way, as well as the French-born, LeBanner.
LeBanner has not competed in mixed martial arts since 2006. And although his MMA experience is limited, his kickboxing resume is not. In fact, he’s been in against the best, including Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Semmy Schilt, Mark Hunt and others.
Cro Cop and LeBanner have actually competed against one another during a K-1 event in 1996, which the Croatian won via unanimous decision. Expect a similar bout: Striking, striking and more striking. It would be a total shock if this match hits the canvas.
We will bring you more information on the event and venue for this fight as soon as it becomes available.
9 Comments »
If Lebanner shoots for a takedown effectively, I will fall out of my chair.
I’ve always thought he had the athleticism and size to be a very good contender in MMA(albeit he is late in his fight career), and it would be awesome to see him utilize a ground game, or even diversify his standup with a few takedown attempts just to keep Mirko guessing.
All in all, it is a huge test for both of them, and will be a great fight.
I’m guessing you didn’t watch ’strikeforce at the dome’ [no worries though, you didn't miss much].
I did but I dont know what Sapp-Nortje has to do with this
YAWN”"”
stop having thorazine then
it s gonna be a stand up war no doubt about it.Lebanner is willing to show that he s a real contender against Semmy;(just rewatch the last fight to understand;without his leg injury he would have taken the outcome).So i predict fireworks for this fight and from both fighters.
But for cro cop this match won t help him to improve his mma game and so his come back in the cage imo.
It’s a good thing he’s not fighting at Dream 4. he thought it was June 15th. He would have no showed.
What ever happened to the bout that was supposed to take place between Cro Cop and Kharitonov? I’m looking forward to the LeBanner tilt, but Kharitonov was arguably a top 10 HW when Pride closed their doors. I was really looking forward to that matchup as it would have been a great test for both fighters.