Mirko Cro Cop

As usual I was doing my morning surfing and found two interesting articles. The first (from MMAWeekly.com) had a quote from BJ Penn on Sean Sherk

“For me, honestly, it’s not personal at all,” he stated. “The man was cheating. I called him a cheater; then he got all personal. So I think all the personal stuff is on him. He said this is the first time a fight’s personal and this and that and whatever. I couldn’t care less. I’m just going to go kick his ass.”

This has become one of my new favourite quotes.

The other interesting news comes courtesy of mmajunkie.com. Mirko Cro Cop is leaving the UFC to fight in a new organization "DREAM 1", his first fight will be March 15th from Japan. Personally I wish Mirko had stayed in the UFC and made another attempt at the title. Frank Mir, Antonio Nogueira and Tim Sylvia could all be good fights for Mirko, not to mention Brandon Vera. Who knows though, maybe this will set up Cro Cop vs Fedor 2 down the line.

Don't forget that UFC Results will have ufc 82 results and ufc 83 results on March 1st and April 19th respectively.

Everybody is looking for a reason for Mirko Cro Cop's lacklustre performance against Kongo at UFC 75. One of the rumours that I keep seeing is that Mirko Cro Cop broke his rib in the first round. That would certainly explains Mirko's lack of commitment to his shots in the second and third rounds. I also noticed Mirko winsing a lot. I'll poke around more of my top secret sources to see if there is any substance to this rumour.

Dana White has announced that Mirko Cro Cop will face Cheik Kongo at UFC 75 in September in London, England.

Both of these guys are strikers. Kongo will have a definitive height and reach advantage, but Cro Cop is probably the best striker in the UFC heavyweight division, if not the best striker in MMA. Mirko Cro Cop is coming off a surprise loss to Gabriel Gonzaga. Gonzaga KO'd Cro Cop with a right high kick to the head after softening Cro Cop up on the ground for a while. Kongo is coming off a victory.

It's that time again. Rumors are flying around about who's joining the UFC and when and fighters which are scheduled to fight, but with no opponents. So, I think it's time for us to start speculating.

Also, in case you haven't noticed, we changed the site name to "UFC Results"...I don't know why, just time for a change I guess.

Ok, we're going to play the game with Mirko Cro Cop and Mauricio Shogun Rua.

Mirko Cro Cop has already had two fights in the UFC and is scheduled to fight again soon (UFC 75 I think). Who would be a good match for Mirko and why?

1) Tim Sylvia
Tim Sylvia is a two time UFC heavyweight champion. He defeated Ricco Rodriguez the first time in a memorable KO performance and defeated Andrei Arlovski for his second title. Tim is not the most popular fighter in the UFC, mostly because of his lumbering style and reluctance in engage in a couple of fights. Tim most recently lost the UFC heavyweight belt to Randy "The Natural" Couture.

Tim would make an excellent match for Mirko Cro Cop for two reasons. First, if Tim defeats Mirko, he's right back in the mix and will make believers out of his biggest critics. Two, if Tim looses to Mirko Cro Cop, it puts Mirko right in the title picture and we can expect to see a showdown between Cro Cop and the winner of Gonzaga/Couture.

2) Brandon Vera
Everyone is talking about Brandon Vera. Where did he go? Is he coming back? Will he fight at heavyweight or light heavyweight? Who knows, but I'd like to see Vera fight either Mirko or Shogun, so he makes the list.

3) Fedor. Duh, would like to see it, but it's not going to happen. At least not in the short term.

4) Chuck Liddell - Hey, we can still wish for this super fight, right?

Ok, what about Shogun? Who would we like to see Shogun fight?
1) Chuck Liddell
2) Rampage Jackson

#2 is not going to happen for Shogun's first fight. His first outing will be at UFC 76 and Rampage is busy fighting Dan Henderson for the title at UFC 75. So we'll need to wait at least one fight for the title shot.

The only way I can see Chuck vs Shogun is if Dana was unsuccessful at luring Wanderlei Silva into the UFC. Shogun is dangerous for any fighter and I doubt if Dana wants to cash out his cash cow (Liddell) just yet. Of course, Chuck will fight anyone and Shogun is no exception.

I think it's most likely that they'll feed some middle ground light heavy to Shogun in his first UFC fight. Maybe a Keith Jardine or Forrest Griffin. Either guy would make it an excellent exciting match.

So what do you guys think? Mirko's next opponent will be __? Shogun's first UFC opponent will be? Leave your comments.

Please note before reading my list that these are my favourite fighters, not the fighters which are the best. That's a different list, perhaps entitled "Top 10 Best Figthers".

So, I wrote the title to this little entry and now I'm stuck, how do you pick a favourite. I've been watching MMA and particularly the UFC and PrideFC for so long that I feel like I'm picking one of my children as a favourite over another child. It's not fair, but I've made the commitment and now I'm going to follow through with it.


#10 BJ Penn is one of my 10 most favourite fighters. BJ Penn is made of rubber, probably the best natural fighter in MMA. BJ's appearance on the Ultimate Fighter TV series just solidifies this position. The guy is truly funny!

#9 Wanderlei Silva. Silva is an animal in the ring, pure and simple all out agression. A Wanderlei Silva fight is one of the most exciting things to watch. Even his recent losses to Cro Cop and Henderson were amazing fights.

#8 Royce Gracie. When I watch the old UFC fights with Royce Gracie I can't help but be amazed. Certainly Royce had the training advantage over his opponents, but watch carefully. Royce is tough, he took punches and kept coming. Watch his not so old fight against Sakuraba or his fight against Matt Hughes. Royce didn't win those fights, but his toughness came through.

#7 Kevin "The Monster" Randleman. Whenever the "Monster" steps into the ring (or cage), you get the feeling that something super-human is going to happen. Kevin Randleman is a freak of nature, strong and quick. Watching him drop Fedor on his head is still one of my favourite highlights.

#6 Mirko Cro Cop. Mirko suffered a loss recently to Gabriel Gonzaga, but it isn't Mirko's first loss. He came back before and he will again. He's an exciting fighter and doesn't talk trash, for that he's #6

#5 Fedor. Although this is a favourite list and not best fighter list, Fedor deserves to be on here out of simple respect. He's the best of the best.

#4 Matt Serra comes in at #4. Ok everybody, accuse me of jumping on the Matt Serra bandwagon, but Matt has paid his dues in this sport. The first fights I ever saw Matt in were an eye opener to me. I'd never seen anybody transition positions as smoothly and easily as Serra.

#3 Randy Couture makes my favourite MMA fighter list at number three. Randy is a class act, always has respect for an opponent and despite being an underdog in almost every fight he's ever had he's the UFC heavyweight champion at 43 years old.

#2 My second favourite MMA fighter is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. He never gives up in a fight, he is tough as nails and seems to always have respect for his opponents. Big Nog is one of the true talents in MMA. In a fight against Nog, if your name isn't Fedor, you'd better be prepared to lose!

#1 My favourite fighter has to be Chuck Liddell. I'm not saying that because Mr Liddell has an upcoming fight with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson. In fact, I'm picking Rampage to win that fight. I picked Chuck because he has consistently said what he was going to do, then do it. No fanfare, no badmouthing, just great exciting fights, usually ending in TKO's.

Who says Mirko doesn't have a sense of humour? With Bas Ruttens help, Mirko punks Mauro Ranallo. Maura Ranello and Bas Rutten were part of the commentary team for Pride FC. This video is probably a couple of years old as it talks about Mirko's recent fight against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

There is a new PPV starting April 28th entitled "Pride Fighting: Decade"

It might be worth watching for all the UFC fans who haven't had much exposure to Pride Fighting in the past. Or even PrideFC fans who want to re-live some of the classic Pride match-ups.

From PrideFC.com

Don't miss out on this retrospective on the 10-year history of PRIDE Fighting Championships,
featuring interviews from such PRIDE fighters and icons as: Nobuyuki Sakakibara, Nobuhiko Takada,
Renzo Gracie, Chuck Liddell, Mark Coleman, Quinton Jackson, Mark Kerr, Kevin Randleman, Frank Trigg, Don Frye, Matt Hume, Gilbert Yvel, plus many other legends in MMA!

UFC 70 will be replayed tonight at 8pm on Spike TV

Wow, I am extremely confused. Here's a quick recap of the UFC 70 action.

Let me start with Michael Bisping vs Elvis Sinosic.

Michael Bisping came out strong, but a little wild, missing punches. Sinosic was more accurate, but wasn't doing much damage with his shots. Once the fight hit the ground, it was a different story, Bisping seemed to calm down a bit and landed a large number of shots on Sinosic.

Sinosic survived the first round and the second round continued much like the first. In the second, Bisping almost got caught in an arm lock, then again by rear naked choke, he ended up reversing postition and finishing Sinosic with strikes on the ground.

Michael Bisping defeats Elvis Sinosic by ref stoppage

Andrei Arlovski vs Fabricio Werdum
In my opinion, there wasn't a clear winner in this fight. I suppose that Arlovski took it because he knocked Werdum down twice, but I don't think Werdum was really hurt. Neither fighter really engaged in what was a disappointing battle. With the skill sets these two possess, this should have been the fight of the night.
Andrei Arlovski wins by decision

Mirko Cro Cop vs Gabriel Gonzaga
The fight started with a few missed punches by Gonzaga. Cro Cop then landed a good kick to the body, but Gonzaga caught it and took Mirko to the ground. Gonzaga dominated on the ground, landing punches and elbows. The ref stood them up with about 30 seconds left in the first round and...
Gabriel Gonzaga KO'd Mirko Cro Cop with a right high kick to the head

From UFC.com

UFC 70 Weigh-In Results
Official weigh-in results for UFC 70 – Nations Collide, which will take place Saturday night at the MEN Arena in Manchester, England.

Main Event
Gabriel Gonzaga (243) vs Mirko Cro Cop (225)

Lyoto Machida (199) vs David Heath (205)
Elvis Sinosic (205) v Michael Bisping (204)
Fabricio Werdum (233) vs Andrei Arlovski (238)
Assuerio Silva (241) vs Cheick Kongo (229)

Matt Grice (155) vs Terry Etim (154)
Junior Assuncao (155) vs David Lee (155)
Victor Valimaki (203) vs Alessio Sakara (204)
Dennis Siver (167) v Jess Liaudin (168)
Edilberto Crocota (169) vs Paul Taylor (169)

What a difference a year makes, especially to the UFC heavyweight division. Just a year ago, it was thought by many that the UFC heavyweight division was the least interesting of the weight classes. In fact, the moment that Tim Sylvia defeated Andrei Arlovski for the UFC heavyweight title in April 2006, it became the UFC's most boring division. In fact, 2 minutes and 43 seconds into that fight Arlovski went down and with it, the excitement left.

July of last year saw a rematch with Sylvia facing Arlovski again, but unlike their first two bouts this one would go the distance. It was the longest 25 minutes of my MMA watching life. Neither fighter engaged, neither landed big shots or attempted big take downs. Something had to be done, the hard core UFC fans did not want to see Arlovski Sylvia 4, and there were no other real challengers.

Something has happened since then, barely 9 months have passed and one title defense later sees the UFC's heavyweight division as the best in the sport. The first event was the signing of Pride standout heavyweight Mirko "Cro Cop". Mirko's incredible striking and strong take down defense earned him recognition as one of the 5 best heavyweights in the world. It was assumed by many, including myself, that Mirko was brought in as a hired gun to end Tim Sylvia's reign of terror and restore honor to the UFC heavyweight ranks.

Mirko may not get the chance...somebody beat him to it. As it turns out 43 year old Randy "The Natural" Couture decided to come out of retirement and challenge for the heavyweight title. While I'm not a huge Tim Sylvia fan, I did not give Randy much of a chance because of Tim's enormous size and reach advantage, not to mention that he's 12 or 13 years younger than Randy. Randy proved me wrong by dominating a 5 round fight. The excitement was back and Randy Couture was back on top!

UFC president Dana White was apparently not satisfied with just having a few good heavyweight fighters though, recently he's signed Brazilian submission masters Antonio Rodrigo Nogeura and Fabricio Werdum to UFC contracts. It is unknown when "Big Nog" will get his first fight in the UFC, but we do know that Werdum is to fight former heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski on April 21, 2007 at UFC 70 "Nations Collide". Oh, did I forget to mention the perennial heavyweight contender Heath Herring? While Heath hasn't looked spectacular in his first two UFC outings, he was always near the top when he fought in Japan's Pride organization.

So, here's how the UFC Heavyweight division stacks up as I see it:

1 Randy Couture - UFC Heavyweight Champion
2 Mirko Cro Cop - #1 contender (will get a title shot if he wins at UFC 70 against Gabriel Gonzaga)
3 Antonio Rodrigo Nogeura - #2 contender, no fights set yet.
4 Andrei Arlovski, Tim Sylvia, Fabricio Werdum are all tied for this spot as I see it.
5 Gabriel Gonzaga - if he beats Cro Cop at UFC 70 he will get a title shot.

It's also been rumored that a win at UFC 70 by Andrei Arlovski will get him another title shot later this year.

2007 is a banner year for UFC heavyweight fans. I for one am enjoying the it.

UFC 70 Nations Collide Predictions

For this UFC I'm only going to do predictions on the main fights

Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
In my opinion, this is an easy pick. Mirko will take this one either by KO or decision.

David Heath Vs. Lyoto Machida
Both of these guys have stellar MMA records with both submission and TKO victories to their credit. The difference is the competition they've faced with Machida having the edge in that category. I'll take Machida.

Michael Bisping Vs. Elvis Sinosic
Apart from the Cro Cop fight, this is the easiest pick of the night. I'll take Michael Bisping over Elvis Sinosic with the following caution. When/if Bisping takes him to the ground he'd better be careful. I thought Bisping was dangerously close to getting caught his last time out and Sinosic is under rated as a submission guy.


Andrei Arlovski Vs. Fabricio Werdum
My personal pick for Fight Of The Night both of these guys are excellent MMA fighters. I give the edge in stand up to Arlovski and the edge on the ground to Werdum. It really depends on where the fight goes. I'm going to take Febricio Werdum in this fight based on his wins over Alistair Overeem and Aleksander Emelianenko. If Andrei Arlovski wins this bout, I'll be the first to jump back on the Pit Bull's bandwagon.

Assuerio Silva Vs. Cheick Kongo
Since I don't see Cheick Kongo submitting Assuerio Silva and although it is possible that Silva will submit Kongo, I believe that this bout will be decided in the stand up. It's going to be a killer match up. Since Silva has the advantage on the ground I'm going to lean that way.
Assuerio Silva by submission

UFC 70 - Nations Collide will be held in the UK. More specifically in Manchester. It will feature some of the best fighters the UFC has to offer and in the United States (and hopefully Canada) it will be available free on Spike TV. Other locations it will be available as a PPV.

Here is the card:

Feature Fights
Mirko Cro Cop Vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
David Heath Vs. Lyoto Machida
Michael Bisping Vs. Elvis Sinosic
Andrei Arlovski Vs. Fabricio Werdum
Assuerio Silva Vs. Cheick Kongo

Other Fights (May not be broadcast)
Matt Grice Vs. Terry Etim
Junior Assuncao Vs. David Lee
Victor Valimaki Vs. Alessio Sakara
Dennis Siver Vs. Jess Liaudin
Edilberto Crocota Vs. Paul Taylor

Initial UFC 70 Predictions
I'm not going to do all predictions right now, but here are a few. With just about every fighter in the UFC today over hyped, it's difficult to pick predictions in some of these fights. There are some clear cut favourites though:

Mirko Cro cop is the most obvious favourite. The UFC didn't pay him that mountain of cash to have him lose before his title shot. Look for a victory here, then a match up with Randy "The Natural" Couture.

Michael Bisping should be able to take care of Elvis Sinosic fairly easily. However, don't forget that Sinosic is pretty good on the ground. Tito Ortiz was way too much for Elvis, but Bisping isn't Tito...at least not yet.

Straight from Dana White

It is a high-stakes match-up, as White explained: “Providing he wins this fight, Cro Cop will go on to fight the winner of (this Saturday’s) UFC heavyweight title fight between Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture.

From the MMA rumour mill.

"Cro Cop gets winner of Sylvia-Couture in the summer if he gets past Gonzaga"

Well, this isn't much of a stretch, Mirko will get past Gonzaga and we all know he's been brought in to be the future champ. But hey, why not post the obvious.