RealGM

According to his website:

Mirko's next fight is set for June 13th in Germany, which means that he's back in the UFC, a place that he didn't have his best moments:
I decided to fight in the UFC again, because of the stronger competition in the heavyweight division. My next opponent will be Mustapha Al-Turk. I didn't do well in my first three appearances - I wasn't myself. By returning to the cage I want to prove that I can still fight at highest level, no matter when or where., claims Cro Cop.

http://www.mirko-crocop.com/?id=4&solo=102

Interesting to see if he can do better this time.

I know he can. Lets go Mirko!

The guy can't beat Kongo. Who cares? Cro Cop has not been the same fighter for quite some time. But, I guess they can feed him to Lesnar to gain him some credibility for pasting a former Pride star.

Truthfully, I would rather see the UCF sign Lashley or Rothwell.

Big ol' 'meh' for me.

I remember how stoked I was for Cro Cop's first tour in the UFC, thinking he was gonna kick everyone's heads off. Then Gonzaga broke him, physically (and mentally, IMO).

Now I'm supposed to be excited to see him fight a guy that was destroyed by a guy he already lost to?

Are they having trouble selling tickets in Germany or something?

I don't hate Cro Cop or anything, and I still would be interested in some of his fights, but most of them would be in Japan, in a ring, and possibly in K-1, or against K-1 fighters under MMA rules.

ho hum. I'll remember him from the K1 and Pride days best.

jTF2 wrote:ho hum. I'll remember him from the K1 and Pride days best.

This seems to be a reoccurring theme. Nog, Wandy, Cro Cop, Shogun...

I love Mirko. He has tremendous character.

Cammo101 wrote:The guy can't beat Kongo.

He didn't beat Kongo. The pretext for his return is that he's now a better fighter.

cowboyronnie wrote:I love Mirko. He has tremendous character.

Cammo101 wrote:The guy can't beat Kongo.

He didn't beat Kongo. The pretext for his return is that he's now a better fighter.

What has he done to prove this? I have seen nothing out of him post UFC to make me think he has improved.

With Herring out of UFC 99, I wonder if they will put Cro Cop in his place.

Al-Turk had an opponent already, and that's a garbage fight anyway. At least a fight against Velasquez would mean something.

CPT wrote:With Herring out of UFC 99, I wonder if they will put Cro Cop in his place.

Al-Turk had an opponent already, and that's a garbage fight anyway. At least a fight against Velasquez would mean something.

Kongo is replacing Herring at UFC 99.

Mirko will be better this time around. I'm almost positive. Cro Cop by LHK

SpReEfOrAlL wrote:Mirko will be better this time around. I'm almost positive. Cro Cop by LHK

I'd like to think so, but he has not exactly lit the world on fire post-UFC.

Meh, I always like watching Cro Cop. Even if he doesn't do well, again. He's still fun to watch.

CPT wrote:With Herring out of UFC 99, I wonder if they will put Cro Cop in his place.

Al-Turk had an opponent already, and that's a garbage fight anyway. At least a fight against Velasquez would mean something.

if anything I would hope crocop and his handlers would prefer a total scrub

He needs to just demolish someone...but Gabe was supposed to be the scrub he ran over for his intro to the UFC last time and Gabe took his head off.
I really like CC, but his glory days are in the past.

With the absorption of PRIDE, there really isn't another promotion out there that is even half as competitive, so if he is still as good as he says he is, there's no other place to prove it but the UFC. Unfortunately, knocking out nobodies from Japan doesn't really count. His last match-up against a semi legit opponent was against Overeem and that was unimpressive. The fight ended in a NC, so technically he didn't lose, but it was clear who the dominant man was in the fight.

Mirko is one of my favorite fighters but I have to agree that his time might be up. It's a shame. He's a master at what he does, but this isn't K-1. Mixed Martial Arts is evolving and to keep winning, you gotta adapt to it. He doesn't have a very all around skill set and that is what's hindered him from recent success. Furthermore, he is far away from having that same mental toughness he did years ago. The guy isn't old by any means, but when you get knocked out the way he did against Gonzaga, it's just not going to be the same. He's approached all his fights after that with a noticeably more timid advance, and he doesn't seem to have that same killer instinct anymore. He's always been a smart fighter, but he's stopped being a risk taker, and that takes away a lot from his game.