The Latest on UFC 119: Cro Cop Cleared + Predictions

The upcoming ufc 119 event is rapidly approaching, and it looks to be a solid event from top to bottom. The main event fight between Mirko Filipovic and Frank Mir had recently come into question after it was revealed that “Cro Cop” had hurt himself in training. Apparently much ado was made about nothing, as the UFC recently put up a press release confirming that the PRIDE FC legend had been medically cleared to compete. Here’s what the official release said, as well as my predictions for the card.

Courtesy of the official UFC.com website, the press release is as follows: “Legendary Croatian striker Mirko Cro Cop has been examined by an ophthalmologist in Indianapolis, site of Saturday’s UFC 119 event at Conseco Fieldhouse, and has been medically cleared to compete in the main event this weekend against former two-time heavyweight champion Frank Mir. Cro Cop suffered a poke in the eye in the last round of his final sparring session for the bout last week, but after a few days of rest, he is in tip top shape for this pivotal battle of heavyweight contenders.”

I’m very glad that Mirko got the go-ahead, since I think Mir/Cro Cop is a solid main-event that I’m quite honestly looking forward to. And if I’m being perfectly honest, I’m looking forward to this entire card. So here are my predictions for some of the major fights of UFC 119 “Mir vs. Cro Cop”.

Sean Sherk vs. Evan Dunham

Say hello to the return of the wrestler. Sherk will come in with a not-insignificant amount of ring rust, but due to that he’ll rely almost solely on his wrestling and only use his striking to set up takedowns. And Sherk’s wrestling has always been incredibly dominant. It’ll be another case of “beautiful ugliness” when Sherk continues to take Dunham down, slamming him into the canvas with authority on more than one occasion, and pounding his opponent out. Sherk takes a dominating three-round decision and immediately puts himself back “into the mix”.

Matt Serra vs. Chris Lytle

My prediction is that I’m going to both love and hate this match. I’m a fan of both men, and I really, really don’t want to see either man lose, especially when a big win for Lytle puts him “into the mix” again, while Serra stays “in the mix” if he beats “Lights Out”. It’s going to be a fantastic war, and I think we’ll see a sizable chunk of this fight go to the ground. And it’ll be just as exciting as when both men are standing up and swinging for the fences. I’ve just got to go with Lytle, but only because I want him to win more. Lytle takes a super-close, grueling three round decision.

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Ryan Bader

Look for “Darth Bader” to cement his status as a top 205’er with a big win over “Little Nog”. I hate to pick against a Nogueira brother, but Little Nog’s fight with Jason Brilz left a sour taste in my mouth. Nogueira still has plenty of years left in him, but he’ll have a very hard time against Bader, who has solid wrestling and super-sneaky one-hit KO power. He’ll be only the second man in history to ever do it, but I’m predicting that Ryan Bader is going to KO Rogerio Nogueira. But it won’t be easy, which is why I’m also predicting that it’ll happen late in Round 2 or early in Round 3.

Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop

Nothing has changed from my first opinion piece about this fight. I firmly believe that Mirko Cro Cop is not relevant in today’s Heavyweight division and that nothing short of a full-on rebirth a la Randy Couture will make him relevant again. I’ll eat my crud yet again if Mirko does the seemingly-impossible, but time and time again I see people boiling this fight down to two simple things: people hate on Mir for his attitude while lauding Cro Cop for his accomplishments in PRIDE. The reality is this: Frank Mir can be quite an unlikeable person, but he’s also got an incredible amount of skill. And Mirko Cro Cop may have been one of the best PRIDE FC fighters ever, but he hasn’t beaten any top-ranked opponents since PRIDE and has in fact looked horrible in several of his recent losses to top-ranked talents. Mir will likely be called all manner of derogatory terms for it, but I see him wasting no time in getting a takedown and scoring a submission. Look for Frank Mir to win by submission early in Round 1, Round 2 at the latest.

And those are my picks, fans and friends. How do you see UFC 119 going down?