How do we see this one going? Filipovic is one of the first ATG fighters, he began his MMA career in 2001 as a 27 year old and in his first 9 fights he'd beaten Fujita, Sakuraba, Herring and Vovanchyn. He was caught by a hug shot off Randleman, in a defeat he later avenged. But for the first 6 years of his MMA career only Nogueira and Emilianenko really bettered him. Rodrigo he was lighting up before getting tagged and Fedor never gave him the rematch he deserved. By the time he came to UFC he was 33 and on the downturn of his career. Cain also had a strong unbeaten start to MMA with victories over Nogueira and Lesnar before getting smashed by Dos Santos. He avenged that defeat twice but found his career stagnate until he was out struck against Werdum in a big upset. Cain has the physical gifts and the technique to beat anyone, he can grapple with grapplers and he can strike with strikers. Mirko has one game plan, strike and stuff, but he was incredibly good at his game, he was perhaps too small for his division though. Anyways do you think Cain takes him down and punishes him with elbows and hammer fists or can Mirko keep it standing and knock the big man out? For what it's worth my money is on Mirko to do a number on him.
Gets mauled in the cage Cro Cop, and I cant see him beating Cain in a ring either, even though hes a beast and imo the better striker. I think he's a little undersized to come out with the win against a well rounded bigger man ! If that left kick connects though properly, he'll be seeing tweety birds and stars Velasquez !
Yeah I think prime Cro Cop could KO him but the UFC version would easily get mauled by Cain.I was a Cro Cop fan and it was shame we didn't see the best of him in UFC,I saw him fight live once at UFC110 when he peat Perosh and Cain beat Big Nog in the main.
Prime, healthy Cain would have at least a 50/50 chance against any Heavyweight to compete in MMA in my opinion, he was destructive, a Maul machine.
I disagree, Cro Cop in his prime was agile, he timed his Take down defense pretty extraordinarily. I picture it as Mark Coleman vs Cro Cop, Cro Cop didnt let him even take him down. I am not being biased, just truth.
A healthy Cain similar to his form v JDS 2 and 3 puts Cro Cop through the prune juicer with in 3 rounds with take downs and GNP.
Ok... Cain has a weak fight IQ. He uses the same feints & movement, doesn't have good striking (it really isn't) and his cardio is overrated. Mirko, in his prime, had THE BEST TDD in the GAME. He also had the best striking in the game. Cain has had neither. He went a gruelling full 15 mins with a PRIME Fedor. A man who had THE BEST IQ at that time and the best overall HW there was (and has ever been). Mirko may have gotten outstruck, but he never got stopped or submitted (you had to be special to do that back then). Cain's submission game is non-existent, his striking is sloppy, and guys that weren't 1/10th of the fighter prime Mirko was (Kongo) have nearly put his lights out. Mirko, in his prime (which was in the ring), would KO Cain. Too well rounded for him.
Velasquez is a pretty impressive HW. Very well rounded and I like the way he demolished that chump Lesnar whom I can't stand. Nevertheless, if we're talking PRIME Cro Cop, let's remember that the version we saw in the UFC is a shadow of what he was. Mirko's striking at best is miles better than Cain's (hell, a shot to **** version was holding his own with dos Santos for a while until he caved in) and he's no fool on the ground either. Let's recall that Barnett managed to do little with him on the ground and I'll pick Barnett over Cain on the ground. No doubt it would be a competitive fight but prime Filipovic was just another level imho.
The version of Mirko Crocop that KTFO'd Silva and destroyed Barnett to win the 2006 pride HW GP would walk through Cain imo. Ring, cage, back alley, whatever. I never bought the narrative that Mirko's career declined just because of the switch to the cage. He had 4 knee operations by the time he fought in the UFC and was clearly on the decline. Even in his first fight against a handpicked journeymen he looked bad in spite of getting the stoppage. Cain is a great fighter but his achilles heel is his glass jaw. He has never looked comfortable taking a shot and his entire style revolves around using his wrestling to avoid striking exchanges. Mirko had the TDD to force Cain into those exchanges.
This is how I see it now. That night in 2006 September was the best Cro Cop we ever would see but it's also the last Cro Cop as the injury he sustained took far more out of him than anyone ever realised. The truth is this was not the start of his peak, it was his last great performance. Mirko was prime when he started his Pride Career, the open weigh tourney was his last great hurrah. Had he got that shot against Fedor, he'd have walked in a favourite but he'd have got hammered imo.same if he'd have got the title shot against Couture.
Cro Cop KO Would have liked to have seen Mirko vs Stipe or prime JDS Cro Cops the kind of guy i can see obliterating N'ganagogoo
I think Cro Cop ko's Couture prime blatantly. Were they supposed to fight ?? Couture was a good fighter, his dirty boxing was very good. Striking though Cro Cop blows him away !
