Mirko is different level to Miocic or any of the current heavyweights of this era and was unfortunate to have been around when the Heavyweight division was loaded as he likely would have had a long reign as UFC champ if his peak had been anytime in the last 8-10 years.
I would have to go with Cro Cop as well for the reasons already stated. During his prime in kickboxing and in mma, he had insanely fast reflexes. His style was very basic when you think about it. It revolved around constant lateral movement to avoid his opponent and set up one sniper-like strike to knock out his opponent. He also had a cat-like sprawl which is historically very underrated. But he was more clever than he seemed. He could create openings by throwing left straights down the center, moving his opponents' guard to block or parry, and then firing off his left kick to the opening around the gloves. He had a way to waiting until the very last moment with his high kick before twisting his hip off and switching the trajectory of the kick to get around his opponent's guard. The accuracy, timing, speed and power in his strikes, even if they were predominately sniper-like singular shots, was terrifying. His left high kick is to this day still one of the deadliest weapons in mma history. But there's one factor I think nobody's really considering here. Cro cop is one of my favorite fighters, but let's be honest about something. Despite his intimidating presence, he was definitely something of a front runner and not the mentally strongest guy in the world. His conditioning was also very questionable at times, although some of that could be a product of a less equipped mma camp and an earlier era. Miocic on the other hand is about as tough as they come, and we've seen him make adjustments in fights where he was beat up, hurt and significantly behind in. He finished DC after three rounds of getting his ass kicked with that left body hook adjustment. He lost to Dos Santos, but that fight was as close as it gets with many thinking he won, and he never showed any sign of discouragement. Came back like a charging bull after Overeem flattened him and finished him in the same round. He's even shown that he's not intimidated by a devastating striker in Nnganou (though not even in the same world of skill as cro cop). Like I said, I would still pick Cro Cop due to his pure talent and skills. But Miocic does have an advantage in some of the intangibles that should be recongized. This content is protected This content is protected
lets not forget that Stipe is a very good boxer as well as being smart in the ring,,, yes I love Crocop in his prime, don't get me wrong!!! Stipe never looks flashy but he can do most everything really well, including deal with deadly strikers pretty well,
Yes I agree Stipe is a real junkyard dog, but Mirko also had those sorts of fights. Let's not forget that he had some absolute wars with K1 fighters where he got tagged pretty hard and not only stayed in the fight but gave back as good as he got. One of his most famous early fights was the brawl with Swiss master kickboxer Andy Hug and for those that haven't seen it: This content is protected Mirko got axe-kicked in the face twice by Hug and then returned the favour ...
