"Cro Cop" says he's fighting Hong Man Choi on New Year's Eve by MMAjunkie.com Staff on Dec 17, 2008 at 6:50 pm ET This content is protected DREAM and UFC veteran Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (23-6-2) says he will fight Hong Man Choi (1-1) at the Dec. 31 FieLDS Dynamite!! 2008 event at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. In an entry on his official blog, Filipovic claims bout agreements have been signed and that "the fight is on." However, the fight, which will be conducted under MMA rules (on a fight card that also features K-1 kickboxing bouts), has not been officially announced by DREAM. "I must say I'm happy with this opportunity to fight again in this year," Filipovic wrote. "This wasn't the best year for me, and I'm hoping that I'll end it in a good spirit." Filipovic most recently fought Alistair Overeem (28-11) at DREAM.6 in September. He struggled in the bout but was saved by a no-contest after being struck with a fight-ending knee to the groin. Filipovic had been rumored to be fighting Overeem at the New Year's Eve event. Instead, he'll take on Choi, a 7-foot-2, 330-pound K-1 kickboxer who hasn't fought in MMA since last year's New Year's Eve armbar loss to Fedor Emelianenko. "When you fight [an] opponent of that size, you just have to take the fight very seriously," Filipovic wrote. "Under MMA rules, he's not experienced, but he's big and strong, and that makes him dangerous." Filipovic, one of the world's most recognizable fighters, left the UFC earlier this year after back-to-back losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo. He's fought just twice since that February dismissal. In addition to the no-contest with Overeem, he scored a first round TKO of Tatsuya Mizuno (5-4) at DREAM.1 in March. Whoa this is bad bad news for ANY CC fans. CC has fallen off immensely i dont fancy his chances at all as its not like he has the ability to get Choiu to the mat and sub him. Choi will split his head in two.:-(
I doubt the fight even happens Cro Cop is always talking about who hes fighting next and 60 percent of the time it never happens.
Not in MMA. Thats BS. He's no Giant Silva. Fedor couldn't take him down and got busted up pretty bad by a couple of hammer fists. This is the same guy who beat Shcilt in K-1 rules. A Giant with some natural co-ordination is going to trouble anyone. Other than his hair, he's not a joke.
Choi has got some vicious knees. The guy may be poor in the MMA department but he holds massive advantages purely because of his immense physical size along. Fedor did what no other man could and subbed a man twice his size. CC doesnt have no takedown or sub skills in the Fedor department. The guys going to get his head kicked in and kicked in bad.
If this fight does happen CC will win. Its easy to forget how good CC is - I think he will dismantle Choi.
I also think Choi will win. Choi might be a freak but unlike most the others in K-1 he can actually fight a bit and isn't complety useless.
Your right he did look crap in his last fight. But then again Cro Cop hasn't looked good lately either. Choi isn't as bad as you think he is. As Scurla pointed out, its hard to see Cro Cop pulling off a sub like Fedor did as he isn't slick enough on the ground. I also think size will be the difference in this match thats why I think Choi will win.
In all the years CC has been in MMA his never subbed anyone. He has a great takedown defense but thats it. Escape get back on your feet. Against Choi he doesnt have a prayer unless Choi crumbles the same way Bob Sapp did against CC. Considering CC`s dramatic call from grace i cant see anything less than a brutal KO at the hands of Choi on the basis of his huge size alone. CC doesnt have it anymore. His team need to tell him that.
