Frank Mir Plays Nice and Pretends That Mirko Cro Cop is Still Relevant

“It’s when Cro Cop faces somebody, anybody, with actual skill that he loses and loses convincingly.”

somebody obviously has no idea what their talking about, cro cop went 3 rounds with dos santos and did the most damage to him that anyone has yet. he also beat pat barry who is a great up and coming striker.

cro cop > mir round 3 tko, mir wont be able to take cro cop down and his boxing is amateur compared to mirko.

@Onecleanem1

Yeah, I’ve gotta agree with you on this one. Not so much that Cro Cop will infact beat Mir, which is a daunting task and one that only a few men have been able to do lately, but more so that Cro Cop isn’t done.

I think it’s also in a lot of ways disrespectful to a fighter to try to convince people otherwise of the same, especially when they are on a winning streak inside the UFC. His past accolades make up for some of his poorer performances. At least for the time being. He’s no Chuck Liddell. He hasn’t been KO’d three times in a row.

Mirko Cro Cop’s only victories in the UFC have come against bottom-of-the-barrel competition. He’s never looked good in any single one of his UFC fights against top-level fighters. The fight with Dos Santos was very one-sided no matter what damage Cro Cop did.

You’ll never see me try to discredit what Mirko did in PRIDE, but I do think that people need to realize that by the time Mirko faced high-level strikers in PRIDE, he already had a huge mental advantage over his opponents. This was due to the fact that he had been KO’ing a lot of wrestlers, or folks who were past their prime, or people who simply didn’t belong in a pro MMA ring. He does deserve a lot of credit, however, for beating a lot of high-level competition regardless of any circumstance.

His past accolades don’t make up for his poorer performances, in fact, his past accolades make his poorer performances look even poorer. Cro Cop is a shadow of his former self and it’s actually a little sad to see. He hasn’t shown me anything in the UFC that leads me to believe that he’ll be anywhere near top-contender status unless he pulls off a Couture-esque rebirth.

I dont agree, I train in mma and I can watch a fighter like Mirko and stylistically relate to him…the only reason cro cop has not been doing well in the ufc is honestly because he is too small of a heavyweight to be successful. With some fighters and their styles they are able to compete as a lighter heavyweight because they are grapplers, jui-jitsu guys or wrestlers…but cro cop is a striker and being a striker you have to impose your will on your opponent which is extremely difficult to do against the power houses there are in the ufc… If you look at Mirkos fights against talented guys his own size, he did very well…. He needs to drop of light heavyweight….but that wont happen

I really hate this article.

CRO COP IN AN EASY AND CONFIDENCE GAINING FIGHT, seriously mir will not take him down and may get real hurt trying, on the stand up …..well cro cop has a huge advantage, the only way mir wins if is cro cop slips over!

The author of this article is a fool to say the least, Pride FC was merely the beginning of Cro Cop’s mma career; Mirko made a name for himself in the much more dangrous K1 association prior to that. Mirko was and remains perhaps the most talented fighter the world has seen. He still has much to show us, and a few good years left in him. Unless this goes to the ground, or some freak punch SOMEHOW catches Mirko off-guard, Frank Mir is as good as dead. Oh and hoping the author reads this, your title is bogus, as is the theme of your article, you have a deep misunderstanding of the situation here. Frank Mir is very worried, he is by no means being polite or courteous to Mirko. The only reason Mirko is not dominating today is as others have stated, that his opponents in the UFC’s Heavyweight Division today are much bigger guys (walking around at far more than 265 lbs, he is just 235lbs) , in addition to being a good ten years younger on average. “Marcus” understands this, Mirko could cause havoc in the Light Heavyweight Division, he is just to proud to drop in weight after a lifetime of heavyweight competition. Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic FTW!

You can make all the excuses you want, but Mirko hasn’t beaten anyone of relevancy since PRIDE. Since Josh Barnett in 2006. Meanwhile, Mir’s beat Lesnar, Kongo, and Big Nog. Mirko’s loss to Kongo got him cut from the UFC the first time, and Mir ran right through Kongo. Mir also became the first man to ever stop Big Nog, something that Mirko couldn’t do even in his prime.

This is an easy fight for Mir. Cro Cop simply isn’t what he used to be, and I don’t ever see him getting back to his formerly dominant ways. Cro Cop may have the advantage in striking, but Mir’s striking has come a long way, even considering the loss to Carwin.

I get why Mirko is so beloved, why so many PRIDE fans want him to succeed and keep insisting that he’ll succeed even though he’s beaten nobody of any kind of note or relevancy in the UFC and the thing he’s most famous for in the UFC is getting his head kicked off by Gabriel Gonzaga. It’s just not going to happen, folks. Cro Cop is done, he’ll be successful against mid-level opponents at best, I don’t ever see him doing well against the top tier. Even if he somehow wins against Mir, I think Carwin, Cain, and Lesnar would have a field day with him. I see JDS picking him apart in a rematch as well.

Mirko Cro Cop isn’t relevant in today’s MMA. You can go on and on about his past laurels all you want, but at the end of the day, Cro Cop’s big wins in the UFC have come against opposition like Eddie Sanchez and Pat Barry. Give me a break.

Mirko Cro Cop? bottom of the barrel? technique wise Cro Cop is in the elite in terms of strikers in MMA, he was formerly in K-1, and holds victories against legends such as famed KO artist Jerome Le Banner, as well as Peter Aerts, Remy Bonjasky, Mark Hunt & Mike Bernardo, 3 of which have won K-1 world grand prix tournament finals (Aerts x 3, Bonjasky x 3, Hunt x 1), Cro Cop was the runner up against 4-time champion Ernesto Hoost in the 1999 K-1 world grand prix final, and was the first person to beat 350lb Bob Sapp via breaking his orbital bone with a left straight – Sapp had previously knocked out Ernesto Hoost in successive fights simply by sheer size, cornering him and throwing ridiculous haymakers. Cro Cop left Kickboxing with a 16-7 record with 11 KO’s, before coming to MMA and completely dominating.
How can you say he hasnt fought top level opponents in MMA? he won the fucking 2006 Pride FC openweight grand prix? former UFC heavyweight champion Josh Barnett was for a long time considered the no.2 heavyweight in MMA, with only 5 losses (1 to Minotauro Nogueira, 1 to Pedro Rizzo, both of which he avenged, and 3 losses to Cro Cop). Wanderlei Silva in his prime? Wanderlei even outweighed Cro Cop by 4lbs that fight and he got KO’d by the most dramatic of finishes – his ‘trademark’ left high kick. what about Aleksander Emelianenko – his only KO loss was to Cro Cop with yet another left high kick, theres plenty more too, ex UFC heavyweight champions Kevin Randleman and Mark Coleman, Pat Barry, Heath Herring in his prime, Ron Waterman, Kazushi Sakuraba, Kazuyuki Fujita, Hidehiko Yoshida, Ibragim Magomedov, Pride 2000 heavyweight tournament runner-up Igor Vovchanchyn, Choi Hong Man. His only losses are to some of the best heavyweights in the game, Fedor Emelianenko in his prime – (Cro Cop broke his nose in the first round), Minotauro Nogueira in his prime – (utterly annihilated big nog in the first round and if it lasted another 20 seconds would’ve probably given enough time for Cro Cop to capitalize on the left high kick that dropped him in the final seconds), he was half competitive against Junior Dos Santos – (his only opponent to not get dropped by punches), as well as Kongo – (cro cop won the first round) and all of the people that beat him were larger men that fought aggressively and either took cro cop down or got in too close that he couldnt throw his kicks, you gotta remember hes only 230lb – even less in his hayday, smaller or equal in size to Forrest Griffin or Rampage Jackson just with thighs the size of shetland pony’s. Any argument that Cro Cop has only won against shit opponents is totally unfounded – especially considering his kickboxing victories in K-1, and his only losses are to reputable opponents in either sport. I think its unlikely that he’ll ever get UFC heavyweight gold, but anything could happen against Frank Mir, i think he is an ideal opponent for Cro Cop because if he wins, then all of a sudden people like you will have to put your foot in your mouth because he immediatly becomes title picture material, and would probably set up a date with shane carwin after he crushes roy nelson for no.1 contendership, or a rematch with Gonzaga, if he won either he’d definately get a title shot purely because the UFC knows what a huge draw he is, similar to the Brock Lesnar “1 win – title shot instantly” deal

I said he hasn’t beaten top opponents in the UFC. I’ve said time and time again that he deserves a lot of credit for beating (and almost beating) some big names in PRIDE. I don’t mean to be condescending, but please, re-read the original article and my responses. I give Cro Cop his due for his days of glory.

But since the fall of PRIDE, Mirko hasn’t done anything to impress me when he’s stepped inside the Octagon. The thing he’s most famous for in the UFC is getting blasted by Gonzaga. His biggest wins in the UFC have come against mid-level to low-level talent. He’s not the Cro Cop he once was, simple as that.

That’s my point, that’s been my point from the start. People can go on and on about his accomplishments in PRIDE, and yes, Mirko was one of the best to ever compete in PRIDE, but he hasn’t done anything of note since PRIDE. He hasn’t beaten anyone of real name value. Every time he’s put against people that are around the top of the division, he loses. Mir is near the top of the division. I don’t see Cro Cop TKO’ing him. It’d be a cold day way down south if Mirko Cro Cop submitted Frank Mir. This is Mir’s fight to win, Cro Cop’s to lose. It’s going to be yet another nail in Mirko’s coffin, simple as that.

Ok Mir’s wins lately r all ufc manufactured wins much like coutures current 3 fight streak. The ufc does this so that they can b used as stepping stones for young tallent. Now Cro Cop appears to b a stone Mir will use to get back in the top of the heap so JDS or Cain can beat Mir. Im a Huge Mirko fan but lets face it the mans had 100 K1 fights and and all his MMA fights this equals wear and tear, no one could do this without suffuring at least sum long term mental trauma as well as body trauma. So i think it can b said that Cro Cops best years r behind him. Joe Rogan cant pop his eyes enough to make me belive the hype in this fight.
Mir’s boxing is overated imo…. KO’ing Nog on Nogs 44th fight after nog spent a career as a puching bag isnt that impressive. Nog getting KO’d from pillow hands Cain and Frank Mir. after walking thru Mirkos head kicks and Fedor’s Casting Sambo puches 22 fights earlier is proof Nog’s sufferd from the abuse

yes mirko hasn’t beaten top level opponents in UFC apart from maybe Pat Barry who is one heck of a striker, but as i said all the people that beat him were much larger men. The cage is much different to a ring, as it is much harder to corner an opponent and much harder to land a left high kick if your opponent is running around in circles with the much greater floor area of the cage. He was the only fighter to even touch junior dos santos really, and both their faces showed afterwards. Frank Mir’s interview on UFC.com i totally agree with – “i have more ways to beat cro cop than he does with me” however if Cro Cop was to win, it’d be one of his biggest career wins as Mir is more accomplished than Gonzaga, Kongo and Dos Santos, and 3 in a row is pretty good for the heavyweight division right now, and with velasquez and dos santos already promised title shots, if mirko was to win against mir he’d prob be faced off with either shane carwin or the loser from velasquez and lesnar for no.1 contendership

Mirko has changed this training style, camp and motivation. His personality has changed as well. I see a very motivated Mirko making a fool of Frank’s take downs and his speed of his hands and legs will catch Frank again and again. I predict a knockout in the second round. Frank’s overconfidence will be his undoing. Mirko has 2-3 yrs. left in him and I think he will be a UFC champion.