UFC 119: Mir vs Cro Cop!

Training
41

You know the fight sucks when Joe Rogan starts pointing it out. I still can’t believe Mir managed that KO though. Either way, the fight made me want to make a sandwich.
Mir seemed afraid to pull the trigger, which made sense since he was fighting a K1 level striker; as usual, he lacked aggression, had awkward striking, and didn’t seem to push the issue against the cage.

Mirko needs to retire or buy a time machine, it’s over for him. 4 years ago he would have KO’ed Mir, dominated Barry, and brutalized Kongo. He threw 1-2s, kicks and had faith in his sprawl. He was powerful in the clinch against much larger opponents (see Aleks fight). The Mirko of today is gun-shy, slow and plodding, and seems to have lost his reaction time. I feel for him, but it’s over.

Dunham got screwed, as did Stephens IMO. Guillard was trying to play Machida’s game without his skills. He will lose the minute he runs into the wrestler gauntlet or a guy like Florian with reach and a quick jab.

Wish I could appreciate the Lytle/Serra fight, I know they put in their all, but all I saw was a substandard boxer with no reach and brilliant BJJ trying to box with a guy with much better hands. I just can’t get behind ultimate kickboxing.

42

What the fuck was that? Dunham did get screwed. He beat Sherk’s ass. Don’t remeber if it was the 2nd or 3rd round, but around 2:20 Mir and Cro Cop were carrying on a conversation for a good 3-5 seconds. What the fuck is that? Like Rogan [and most here] said this is not the Cro Cop of old. I really hope he retires, 'cause at this point he’s not much more than a living tackling dummy. I’m almost positive he’s thrown a handful of his recent fights. Guys he would’ve mopped the floor with 5 years ago are now beating him. Said it for his last 4 or 5 fights, but it’s time for him to hang 'em up.

43

[quote]rundymc wrote:
You know the fight sucks when Joe Rogan starts pointing it out. I still can’t believe Mir managed that KO though. Either way, the fight made me want to make a sandwich.
Mir seemed afraid to pull the trigger, which made sense since he was fighting a K1 level striker; as usual, he lacked aggression, had awkward striking, and didn’t seem to push the issue against the cage.
Mirko needs to retire or buy a time machine, it’s over for him. 4 years ago he would have KO’ed Mir, dominated Barry, and brutalized Kongo. He threw 1-2s, kicks and had faith in his sprawl. He was powerful in the clinch against much larger opponents (see Aleks fight). The Mirko of today is gun-shy, slow and plodding, and seems to have lost his reaction time. I feel for him, but it’s over.

Dunham got screwed, as did Stephens IMO. Guillard was trying to play Machida’s game without his skills. He will lose the minute he runs into the wrestler gauntlet or a guy like Florian with reach and a quick jab.

Wish I could appreciate the Lytle/Serra fight, I know they put in their all, but all I saw was a substandard boxer with no reach and brilliant BJJ trying to box with a guy with much better hands. I just can’t get behind ultimate kickboxing.[/quote]

man, i’m fucking pissed i bought that card. well, the free fights were worth the money, so i guess it’s fair…

the prelims were awesome.

Mitrone v Beltran…damn. i hvae never seen that much meat move that much…that was a good fight, with both guys putting in a shit-ton of work.

Tavares v Audinwood good job by Thiago. he did what we all kinda htought he would.

Dollaway v Doerksen …Dolloway looked good. he didn’t waste energy with the initial guillotine, but once he got a better grip…DAMN!

McKocrkle v Hunt…WTF? well, if hunt did break his elbow then i guess it made sense…

as far as the ppv card…

Guillard ran for 3 rounds, and Stephens sucks at chasing.

Dunham vs. Sherk was the only decent fight, and dunham got screwed. however, i think everyone in the UFC management saw how well he did, so i guess it’s not reall a loss. and Sherk really did do a good job by going back to his wrestling…

Serra v Lylte seemed like some goofy-ass gentleman’s agreement not to fight MMA rules… i dunno. Serra had a bad gameplan. you don’t try to outbox a taller, superior boxer by wearing down his fists with your face. c’mon, he’s better than that…

Nog v Bader was pretty slow. i think it was an excelleant feeder for Bader, as far as determining how far he has to go yet…

side note: who thinks that the Nogeria bros are actually decent boxers? i think they fricking blow…i’ve never seen a legit boxer take that many shots to the face(for rither Nog bro).

side note #2: what the fuck was Goldberg talking about with dollway being from OSU? the damn pre-fight show mention how he, Bader and Cain are from Az state…wtf?

i still haven;t seen the Mir vs CroCop fight…my DVR went loco.

…but the prelims rocked!

44

That main event was among the shittiest ever.
For once, Rogan was right, that was practically a sparing match. Complete with goofy shit like Mir humping the air a la Bret Contreras after his balls got wrecked or Mirko engaging in polite conversation DURING CLLINCH.
Mir is lucky ge still got the KO.

We still love your high kick, Mirko, but you should retire!

He probably will still cash in with a few pointless Dream bouts (Mirko-Saku II among them?).

I knew I was right with Baader-Nog.
I wouldn’t say they box shitty. [quote]i think they fricking blow [/quote] Far from it.
But their boxing is only good against opponents that, like them, switch to “full boxing mode”.

45

Fuck this.

S’okay, I still got Barry. He’s gonna tear that division up. Get that boy some Jits.

46

well, i finally got around to watching the Mir-Cro Cop fight, and i think Mir has finally figured out that newfangled footwork thing…he looked pretty good, with his movement. i read an interview where he was very critial of his own wrestling, however, i think he made some good improvements, and are more applicable to his plae in the HVW division.

47

I thought Guillard being knocked down in the first 5 seconds was pretty funny. It was hard to take that round seriously through all my laughter.

48

[quote]krazykoukides wrote:
I thought Guillard being knocked down in the first 5 seconds was pretty funny. It was hard to take that round seriously through all my laughter. [/quote]

yeah, no kidding…i thought that fight sucks, but i can’t figure out how Guillard got the win…

49

[quote]cycobushmaster wrote:

[quote]krazykoukides wrote:
I thought Guillard being knocked down in the first 5 seconds was pretty funny. It was hard to take that round seriously through all my laughter. [/quote]

yeah, no kidding…i thought that fight sucks, but i can’t figure out how Guillard got the win…[/quote]

I kind of gave up on most UFC events in the past 2 years. Very few fights interest me and even fewer are actual ‘MMA fights’.

I feel like I could get a Guillard/Stephens type fight for way cheaper at a local bar with two fat guys.

50

Crocop-Mir, another thing:

We pretty much know Mir cannot handle the goliath-class wrestlers.
As for the elite strikers, I think it’s even more obvious now.

51

[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
Crocop-Mir, another thing:

We pretty much know Mir cannot handle the goliath-class wrestlers.
As for the elite strikers, I think it’s even more obvious now.

[/quote]

I predicted on this thread that Mir would destroy him (not a shocking prediction). But, I have to admit as the fight wore on I was hoping that Cro Cop would catch him with something, anything to knock him out. Why is it that most people don’t like Mir? Is it his skill level, his attitude or a little of both?

52

[quote]ZEB wrote:

[quote]Schwarzfahrer wrote:
Crocop-Mir, another thing:

We pretty much know Mir cannot handle the goliath-class wrestlers.
As for the elite strikers, I think it’s even more obvious now.

[/quote]

I predicted on this thread that Mir would destroy him (not a shocking prediction). But, I have to admit as the fight wore on I was hoping that Cro Cop would catch him with something, anything to knock him out. Why is it that most people don’t like Mir? Is it his skill level, his attitude or a little of both?
[/quote]

honestly, as a commentator, i really like him. however, he can be quite a d-bag when talking about his place as a fighter in the HW divisions. that’s why i find him annoying…

although i will admit, he was the camp at 21, and has since been the interim champ and beat the current champ, so he’s not a complete tool. i think if he really embraces the whole mobilty/footwor thing, we can see him as an entirely different threat. however, when he tried to match Lesnar and Carwin’s strength, it was just a waste of his time.

53

I like Mir as a character. He’s upfront about breaking down fights, and is one of the more eloquent guys in the sport. He gets on my nerves while hyping fights though, which is where I think most guys get the ‘douchebag’ label from; mostly because a lot of his material isn’t that good.

As a fighter, I’m not a fan just yet. The guy is a real submission threat, but his tools on the feet don’t cut it for me. His standup looks stiff, his takedowns don’t quite exist, his clinch work isn’t great. More than anything, Mir just doesn’t use any of that new muscle (or old muscle) in his fights; he rarely ‘explodes’ for anything and the Mirko fight highlighted it. The guy fights like a fighter who is afraid of gassing (he admitted this in the post-fight interviews), which, while understandable, is not something I want to watch.

54

[quote]rundymc wrote:
I like Mir as a character. He’s upfront about breaking down fights, and is one of the more eloquent guys in the sport. He gets on my nerves while hyping fights though, which is where I think most guys get the ‘douchebag’ label from; mostly because a lot of his material isn’t that good.

As a fighter, I’m not a fan just yet. The guy is a real submission threat, but his tools on the feet don’t cut it for me. His standup looks stiff, his takedowns don’t quite exist, his clinch work isn’t great. More than anything, Mir just doesn’t use any of that new muscle (or old muscle) in his fights; he rarely ‘explodes’ for anything and the Mirko fight highlighted it. The guy fights like a fighter who is afraid of gassing (he admitted this in the post-fight interviews), which, while understandable, is not something I want to watch.[/quote]

yeah, he’s really kinda weird…as a submission fighter, he’s prolly the most well-rounded. i mean, all of his submissions have been different, and he’s had 7 in the UFC.

i think if he builds on his cardio and footwork, he’ll open up his game dramatically. and hell, maybe he’ll actually try the LHW cut…

55

[quote]rundymc wrote:
I like Mir as a character. He’s upfront about breaking down fights, and is one of the more eloquent guys in the sport. He gets on my nerves while hyping fights though, which is where I think most guys get the ‘douchebag’ label from; mostly because a lot of his material isn’t that good.

As a fighter, I’m not a fan just yet. The guy is a real submission threat, but his tools on the feet don’t cut it for me. His standup looks stiff, his takedowns don’t quite exist, his clinch work isn’t great. More than anything, Mir just doesn’t use any of that new muscle (or old muscle) in his fights; he rarely ‘explodes’ for anything and the Mirko fight highlighted it. The guy fights like a fighter who is afraid of gassing (he admitted this in the post-fight interviews), which, while understandable, is not something I want to watch.[/quote]

Agree with the charcter thing, I think hes quite funny guy and ive watched some seminers he has done and he seems a nice guy when out the limelight. His groundgame is great, his standup has improved knocking out Noguiera (who has decent hands) and Kongo (who is predomanently a kickboxer) shows that he is improving. However I agree he had no clue how to take Cro Cop down and looked awful in the clinch, just used his weight against the cage to tire Cro Cop.

56

mir is a bit annoying as a fighter
the promocutting shit talk is not something Im ever into
unless its Chael Sonnen- just cause its so funny.

He is also kind of banged up. even his guard is less mobile then befoer his bike accident.
check out how much tape is on that knee or braces or both.

I don’t think he can change levels well- and while mobile for a big guy
he does not burst or explode well.

I can agree that footwork/headmovement would go along way for him
but so would just sucking it up he does not like to get hit

Crocop is just like Sakuraba, you watch hoping it will change but its too late.