your thouths on crocop’s new match against french fighter kongo… i would like to now some info about this fighter.
Kongo is VERY good muay thai fighter who did really well on the european circuit. He is a mediocre MMA fighter due to the fact that he has no ground game, but that shouldn’t be an issue versus Cro Cop.
This should be a entertaining stand-up war, with Kongo looking to work the muay thai clinch game and Cro Cop looking to create space so he can launch the LHK. If Cheick can keep the fight in close and up against the fence, he could give Mirko problems. If not, Mirko will eventually find an opening and decapitate him.
[quote]Steve4192 wrote:
Kongo is VERY good muay thai fighter who did really well on the european circuit. He is a mediocre MMA fighter due to the fact that he has no ground game, but that shouldn’t be an issue versus Cro Cop.
This should be a entertaining stand-up war, with Kongo looking to work the muay thai clinch game and Cro Cop looking to create space so he can launch the LHK. If Cheick can keep the fight in close and up against the fence, he could give Mirko problems. If not, Mirko will eventually find an opening and decapitate him.[/quote]
Haha. Very good analysis/ right on the money. Cro Cop via decapitation.
When’s the fight?
[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
When’s the fight?[/quote]
UFC 75 is September 8
Cro-Cop could never high kick someone that tall!
j/k
[quote]RagingBull wrote:
Cro-Cop could never high kick someone that tall!
j/k[/quote]
That’s what Aleksander said.
It should be a fun fight. I’d bet my life this one doesn’t go very long. Kongo’s strengths play into Mirko’s strengths, and I think that Cro Cop will beat him handily.
Kongo is the kind of thai boxer that Mirko will do well against because he walks forward and leaves lots of opportunities to counter. The impetus for action isn’t on Mirko which is what he likes.
Chieck doesn’t pose the takedown threat that Fedor presented and the “You can kick me in the dome 50 times until your ankle breaks but I’ll just laugh” toughness of Hunt that threw Mirko off against other guys who came forward with pressure.
Kongo is way tighter in his standup and bigger than Wanderlei, but I see the fight going in similar fashion with Kongo walking straight ahead dropping bombs and Mirko timing up his highly underrated left cross. Once he damages that eye it’s only a matter of time before he drops the blade with his “legs big”.
Kongo can bang though, and Mirko’s shaky chin is always a liability, especially with Kongo’s abonormally long arms and reach for his size.
I’ll admit I don’t really know anything about Kongo, I’ve never seen him fight, and I don’t know his strengths from his weakness, but CroCop post-loss is a dangerous man.
After losing to Nog he came back and destroyed Ron “I take roids with my H2O, praise the Lord” Waterman, a much larger opponent with great takedown skills.
That’s the story of his career for the most part. He runs out of steam at some point and takes a loss and then comes back better than before. I don’t know, the guy needs to train more on the mental game than anything else imo.
Kong is as good, if not better than CroCop standing. But the last fight I saw him in he still had 0 ground game what so ever.
would be a trip if CroCop wins by submission…something to think about if Kongo has no ground game…it could happen
As much as I like Cro Cop and love watching him fight, I always have that “what Cro Cop are we gonna get” feeling in the back of my mind. In his last fight against Gonzales he did nothing to press the action or try to change the tide.
Watch his fights against Silva and Barnett at the OWGP and you can tell he was motivated. He was attacking, even against Silva, and wasn’t just sitting back and waiting. If he fought like this all the time he would be unstoppable.
But he did just lose, so Kongo may be in trouble.
[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
Kong is as good, if not better than CroCop standing. But the last fight I saw him in he still had 0 ground game what so ever.[/quote]
Kongo is a decent stand-up fighter but he is not as good as Crocop. As a kickboxer Crocop has wins over bojansky, LeBanner, Hunt and Peter Aerts. Crocop is arguably the best stand-up fighter in MMA.
Kongo is good on his feet but lets not go crazy. Kongo is not tidy enough with his boxing to protect himself from Crocops hands. Furthermore, Kongo wont be taking Crocop down so Crocop can throw leg and body kicks with abandon.
[quote]gotaknife wrote:
Kongo wont be taking Crocop down so Crocop can throw leg and body kicks with abandon.[/quote]
I agreed with everything you said up to this point.
Kongo is at his best in the clinch, and is also a much bigger man than Cro Cop. If he can latch on and either keep Cro Cop up against the cage or in the clinch, he can cancel out Mirko’s kicking game and his boxing skills while punishing him with knees.
Granted, Mirko has always been very adept at shrugging off the clinch, but if Kongo can manage to keep this fight in close, he has a chance.
[quote]Steve4192 wrote:
gotaknife wrote:
Kongo wont be taking Crocop down so Crocop can throw leg and body kicks with abandon.
I agreed with everything you said up to this point.
Kongo is at his best in the clinch, and is also a much bigger man than Cro Cop. If he can latch on and either keep Cro Cop up against the cage or in the clinch, he can cancel out Mirko’s kicking game and his boxing skills while punishing him with knees.
Granted, Mirko has always been very adept at shrugging off the clinch, but if Kongo can manage to keep this fight in close, he has a chance.[/quote]
Keeping Mirko up against the cage that is a good point, like when Barnett kept Mirko against the ropes. The clinch I do not agree with. I have seen Kongo’s Muay Thai and kickboxing fights and I do not see this great clinch of his. It is just average, nothing special. He drops his hands too much for a Muay Thai guy and throws his punches wide. I think guys hear Muay Thai and assume that the guy is a HW Yodsenklai or Buakaw.
[quote]otoko wrote:
Keeping Mirko up against the cage that is a good point, like when Barnett kept Mirko against the ropes. The clinch I do not agree with. I have seen Kongo’s Muay Thai and kickboxing fights and I do not see this great clinch of his. It is just average, nothing special. He drops his hands too much for a Muay Thai guy and throws his punches wide. I think guys hear Muay Thai and assume that the guy is a HW Yodsenklai or Buakaw.[/quote]
I would generally agree, but in regards to the Crocop-Barnett fight the reason why holding Crocop against the ropes worked so well was that Crocop’s primary concern in that position was to avoid being taken down Barnett (who has some kick-ass takedown skills). Against Kongo there is no such danger.
I think that if Kongo wins this fight it will be though catching Crocop when they break clinch, rather than in the clinch itself. This is where Kongo can exploit his reach advantage.