Fuck yeah.
Fuck all of you, Cro Cop takes this via decapitation. Mir ain’t got shit.
Other picks:
Bader - Nogueira : Bader by decision
Serra vs Lytle: Serra by decision
Sherk vs Dunham: Muscle shark via decision.
Guillard vs Stephens: Guillard via TKO.
The prelim card has Mark hunt vs Sean McCorkle, that’s pretty cool.
On another note, possibly the cheapest and most amateur promotional vid the UFC has done since in a while.
I think Cro Cop can take it if he isn’t gun shy.
Mir sucks at taking people down and Cro Cop’s take down defense should (at least used to be) good enough to stop anything Mir can throw at him.
I can see the worst happening if Cro Cop won’t throw anything though and Mir actually does… like the Nogueira fight.
or if Cro Cop gets knocked down like in the Pat Barry fight… I can see problems for him with Mir.
I want Cro Cop to win but I fear the worst considering it is Mir.
I’m really curious to see Mark Hunt fight again… but yeah, I agree with you. A pretty lack luster card IMO.
I think cro cop has lost some of his edge, but I still love watching him fight (and it has nothing to do with those shorts). There’s just something fun about a guy with “right leg hospital, left leg hospice” kicks, who isn’t afraid to use them.
Cro Cop was, at his prime, a monster. I’m still a big, big fan, but his last good fight was in 2006.
As already said, he HAS lost his edge. His aggression is gone. You need aggression if you step into a cage with well-trained combat athletes and fight a fight that’s build around a knockdown.
Thankfully, Mir isn’t an aggressive wrestler who forces Mirko to be extra cautious with his sprawl.
Also, Mir’s hands are not as good as the UFC and Mir’s ego wants everybody to believe. Crocop is on a completely different level here.
The fight will either go like this: Mir comes out strong, throws a few hands, tries a sloppy takedown, Cropcop does too little and backs off, all the while Mir is getting more confident. Mir then gets a takedown in round two, surfs a bit and can play defensive in the third to secure a UD. Crocop probably won’t catch him then - he rarely lucky nowadays if he’s backpedaling.
If Crocop estabishes some kind of dominance , probably via counter in the first, he might have a chance if he softens Mir up with a lowkick or two. If Mir survives that round, he WILL try hard to TD & clinch in the second & third, while Crocop will play very safe and punch & sprawl to a not so exciting UD.
So it comes down to early dominance. Both fighter have their will shattered easily in that time of their career. They have to taste blood.
I’ll still pray to Hercules for a miracle left high kick, though;)
Bader, by GNP, it will not be pretty, the Minotaur should have retired already
Probably Lytle
Dunham - Sherk,: no idea
the young assassin through tko, 80% chance in the 1st- or submission in the 2nd or 3rd for Stephens
I remember watching the PRIDE GP finals live, and being in awe at Crocop’s speed against Wandy. Those days are long gone though and he hasn’t looked the same since stepping in the Octagon, as a striker and as a fighter. A lot of theories were thrown around on the boards about his sudden performance dip: Octagon vs Ring, steriods (right), higher weight, level of competition. If you ask me, Schwarzy has it right; his problems are in his head. No aggression, no motivation. I love Pat Barry, but when a striker with a broken hand and foot is still giving you a bit of a fight, something’s up.
If Mir’s smart he will push Mirko back against the cage and impose his size/strength advantage against him, essentially doing what Reem and Kongo did (ie knees to the balls, heh). In all likelihood though, Frank will trade with him, but even then I don’t see Mirko KOing him or overwhelming him with strikes. I’m pulling for Mirko, if only because I think that in his prime he would have crushed JDS and beaten Cain, but I think Mir takes it.
Dunham over Sherk (carbon copies: Please Sean stop boxing, you have no REACH).
Bader over Diet Nog (crappy style matchup for Nog; Ryan gets owned on the feet before taking him down and imposing his top control.)
Guillard over Stephens. (We might finally see Melvin in the later rounds).
Serra over Lytle. (I’m hoping Serra brings out the top control for this one)
Can’t wait for the Hunt fight.
Mark is doing what he should have done a long time ago…shrinking.
What!? No more atomic ass drop!?
Lol. Anyway, I still think cro cop pulls it out. Cro cop’s biggest problem since entering the UFC has been his mental preparation, and although I can’t get a solid source, rumor is he’s been having problems in his personal life up until recently. However as of the time of the Barry fight, as Cro Cop says himself, he’s in a much better place mentally and obviously getting out of his normal gym and trying with the Dutchies has done wonders for him, he looked much better conditioned in the Barry fight. He’s finally putting his hands on his fucking jaw too.
But yeah, he CANNOT allow himself to be gun shy.
That is Hunt?!
I’m SO betting on him now.
The ass!
Such a talent, mostly wasted on doughnuts and chesseburgers.
I had to look THREE TIMES at BigBoss’ picture to identify him. The first time I just kinda told myself, “oh the snowman fights”, then “wait wait what was that about, Mark who?”, then “great, Mark Hunt is there, and who’s this Mark”.
Monson as a training partner is phenomenal for Hunt, both are built very similarly.
i can’t imagine what Mark hunt would have done back in the day if he was in that kind of shape. i’ve never seen a human being shrug off shots to the head like him…
CroCop vs mir is kinda interesting to me…i agree that Mir’s hands, although marginally improved and he’s added some mass, he’s still not gonna be the HW champ again. CroCop will prolly chop him down. but i can’t really see how it’s gonna end.
Stephens vs Guillard should be good…i think Guillard is quicker and more powerful, but he’s notoriously bad at defendign submissions.
i’m a big fan of Dunham, but i think Sherk will be able to stall out his submissions with his short arms and pace.
i think this should be a good card…no title fights, just guys tryign to get contender status. those always result in better fights, IMO.
[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:
i can’t imagine what Mark hunt would have done back in the day if he was in that kind of shape. i’ve never seen a human being shrug off shots to the head like him…
[/quote]
Haha, totally. The guy didn’t even look phased by Mirko Cro Cop’s head kicks… and even an axe kick if I remember correctly.
[quote]Big_Boss wrote:
CroCop Sux[/quote]
Agreed.
Since this is who we think will win and not who we want to win, Mir destroys Crop Cop. Mir can beat him on his feet and on the ground. In addition to this Cro Crop is a few years past his peak (as we’ve all seen) and Mir is hungry for a victory after getting his head handed to him by two stellar wrestlers. Watching Mir get his face pounded in was shear joy. I am certainly pulling for Cro Crop, but it’s not happening.
I’ll only comment on one other fight; I’m really tired of Sean Sherk thinking he can outbox everyone. If the old Sherk shows up he wins, hands down. If the boxer Sherk shows up, who knows?
I will never understand why a man with the height, reach and arm-length of Sherk would choose to stand with anyone, let alone the Penns and Edgars of the world.
[quote]ZEB wrote:
If the old Sherk shows up he wins, hands down.[/quote]
You mean the one that was juicing?
[quote]devildog_jim wrote:
[quote]ZEB wrote:
If the old Sherk shows up he wins, hands down.[/quote]
You mean the one that was juicing?[/quote]
No, I mean the one that used to take everyone down and beat the snot out of them. The one that knew his strength was taking people down and pounding them. The one that made Kenny Florian look a 12 year old kid who was out of his league - That’s the one I’m talking about.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
Fuck yeah.
Fuck all of you[/quote]
This is a great opener for a post haha
[quote]rundymc wrote:
I will never understand why a man with the height, reach and arm-length of Sherk would choose to stand with anyone, let alone the Penns and Edgars of the world.[/quote]
It’s mostly about ego. It’s not intelligent from a tactical/strategic standpoint, but it’s also not isolated to just Sherk. For whatever reason there are some fighters who’s strength is clearly their grappling ability who once they learn a little striking all of the sudden think that they’re strikers and have to go out and prove that they can beat everyone at striking.
Jorge Gurgel is a prime example. Dude is an excellent grappler, yet you never see him use it. Instead he chooses to stand (and lose) to guys who he could probably easily beat on the ground. Henderson was the same way for a while there (just trying to KO people with one big right hand rather than to use his Olympic caliber wrestling).
My cousin (Pat Audinwood) is fighting a prelim match agaist Thiago Tavares, definitely excited to see how he does, it will be his toughest match thus far…
You’d have to take Mir on the main card Cro Cop will have to get a bit lucky with a kick or haymaker to win this one, hate Mir as I do its hard to say that
No fucking way. Cro Cop will fucking win.
[quote]Aussie Davo wrote:
No fucking way. Cro Cop will fucking win.[/quote]
Very fine analysis.