1) He never adapted to the cage, that is not under dispute. 2) "His punch resistance is gone", as is his power, yet he won the biggest tournament in a combat sport that is exclusively striking, defeating veterans and undefeated prospects along the way. atsch 3) His lack of confidence and diminished aggression and explosiveness in the cage may well have been the result of no longer having a free hand to roid up as much as he wanted. Or it may simply have been the psychological result of the single Gonzaga head kick. This of course is only speculation, just like your entire post. 4) The measure of when somebody is shot is when they physically can't compete any more. Cro Cop is not at that level. He is faded, but he is not shot. If he was shot, then he could not have won the K1 tournament. That is fact. End of story. :bart :hat
Werdum wins 99 times out of 100 IMO. I was more wondering if you think matching these guys would be good matchmaking or not. I think educated MMA fans would like it as, even though Werdum is better, they are still probably the two most effective submission artists @ HW, but the Affliction shirt wearing boo boys would hate it. I think Mir looks fitter and more motivated than he has in a while and I would like to see this match up. It is by no means a main event but I think it would add intrigue to any card.
Anyway, here's a picture of the Nog brothers posing with the truck driver who ran Big Nog over. This content is protected :hat
I think your reasoning is fundamentally flawed. And that's no knock on you mate, you're doing the best you can with the brain you've got. Fair play. I think if a fighter who at one time had excellent punch resistance is now routinely being brutalized by single shots, and if a fighter who at one time was an elite fighter who smashed top-notch opposition is now routinely being beaten down by mediocrities he'd have humiliated a few years back, I think this is the dictionary definition of a shot fighter, irrespective of whether he performed adequately in a very low quality kickboxing competition or not.
Haggis - I think this should clear this matter up in a satisfactory fashion. Have you ever seen the Roy Jones Jr vs Jeff Lacy fight? If you have, you'll know I'm correct about Crocop.
Don't let the fact he won the tournament known as the K1 GP fool u . I'm mirkos number one fan but I'm also a realist .. This years world gp was a complete shadow of its former self . None of the top 5 heavyweight kixkboxer a even competed in it .
Eh, he's certainly faded, no one can dispute that. No longer elite. But he is still in with a good chance to win the fight, and he has proven that after he left the UFC. I'm not saying he's now the world's best kickboxer, but "shot" is the end of the line. Mirko isn't there yet. Can you see the Ali of the Holmes fight or the Tyson of the Williams fight winning any kind of tournament? :good And I can't believe that he suddenly turned shot immediately upon entering the UFC. I've seen his losses. That Gonzaga head kick would surely have laid him or anyone else out at any time. I think he just didn't adjust to the cage, was brutally KOed in his second fight, and then lost a lot of confidence in himself because of those two things. This led to more beatings, which led to a more rapid physical decline. But even now he can compete at a good - if no longer great - level. :good So I have a hard time believing that he was suddenly over the hill years ago when he entered the Gonzage fight riding a streak of five consecutive first-round TKOs, with two of the last four being Barnett and Wandy. :conf I think that's a reasonable stance. Anyway, it's nothing to get upset over. :hat
Mir showed he should of retired after the Nelson fight slow as and **** cardio post roids, similar to Carwin , Lesnar and a few others, oh but the TRT lets him still bore our screens.
Words have failed. Perhaps pictures will help. This content is protected This content is protected By 2011, Crocop was losing badly to a fighter so far below his prime level that it's actually laughable. The evidence is simply irrefutable.
A prime Crocop being knocked cold by a single Brendan Schaub punch would be the equivalent to the current Jose Aldo being flattened by a hook from Cody McKenzie or something. That's the vast, insane difference in quality we're talking about here. To suggest that Crocop isn't shot after being wiped out by a D-class Rothwell victim is absolutely pathetic and reeks of some form of bias or agenda.
Haggis, winning the K1 WGP title used to be a great feat, indeed. But not in 2013. The Glory title carries more prestige at this point. The tournament Cro Cop participated in was absolutely awful, and, as you said, he was gifted a very blatant hometown decision in the first round of the final. Calling the K1 WGP "the biggest tournament in a combat sport that is exclusively striking" is just not true in 2013.