Prime CC was a whole different animal

[DoctorsStoppage]

Had an opportunity to rewatch his fight with Texas Crazy Horse after a decade. I have forgotten how fast and agile he was. Never seen a HW move like that. Partly because CC is not a real HW, he weighed in 220 on a fight night, he is lighter than all of the LHWs of today, he weighs in as Costa on a fight night. He was extremely light on his feet, avoided all of the attacks by either footwork or he pushed the much heavier opponent away, staffed all of the takedowns and imposed his will. He took only one leg kick in the whole process while landing all of his attacks. He looks faster than prime Machida but armed with SHW power in his punches and kicks. I don't know how Fedor managed to beat this version of CC.

Enjoy!

 

[Local Plata]

Cool story bro.

 

[TheMaster]

Had an opportunity to rewatch his fight with Texas Crazy Horse after a decade. I have forgotten how fast and agile he was. Never seen a HW move like that. Partly because CC is not a real HW, he weighed in 220 on a fight night, he is lighter than all of the LHWs of today. He was extremely light on his feet, avoided all of the attacks by either footwork or he pushed the much heavier opponent away, staffed all of the takedowns and imposed his will. He took only one leg kick on the whole process while landing all of his attacks. He looks faster than prime Machida but armed with SHW power in his punches and kicks. I don't know how Fedor managed to beat this version of CC.

Enjoy!

Agree that he was a badass in his prime and at the very top of the ladder in MMA.

He came in with that 'assassin' vibe and people were scared of him for real.


He is also one of the unified lineal UFC/PRIDE champions (the 7th).

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...ight-championship-leading-to-ngannou.4196016/

Shocking that he declined so fast and so badly also though and ended up losing to guys like Roy 'blubber' Nelson but it is what it is.

 

[CinemaKingdom]

Had an opportunity to rewatch his fight with Texas Crazy Horse after a decade. I have forgotten how fast and agile he was. Never seen a HW move like that. Partly because CC is not a real HW, he weighed in 220 on a fight night, he is lighter than all of the LHWs of today. He was extremely light on his feet, avoided all of the attacks by either footwork or he pushed the much heavier opponent away, staffed all of the takedowns and imposed his will. He took only one leg kick on the whole process while landing all of his attacks. He looks faster than prime Machida but armed with SHW power in his punches and kicks. I don't know how Fedor managed to beat this version of CC.

Enjoy!

Cro Cop, Big Nog, Kharitonov all got much bigger later in their careers and it hurt them. They never adjusted their games to getting older, slower, fatter and losing their grappling ability due to injury or whatever reason. Cro Cop was the only one who finally adapted to his shortcomings from age. He couldn't rely on his high kick anymore because it was slower so he started using his elbows to win fights, and worked his ground game more. He wasn't prime Cro Cop anymore but it helped him have success and go out on a 10 fight win streak while avenging some losses and beating some pretty big name guys.

 

[DoctorsStoppage]

Cro Cop, Big Nog, Kharitonov all got much bigger later in their careers and it hurt them. They never adjusted their games to getting older, slower, fatter and losing their grappling ability due to injury or whatever reason. Cro Cop was the only one who finally adapted to his shortcomings from age. He couldn't rely on his high kick anymore because it was slower so he started using his elbows to win fights, and worked his ground game more. He wasn't prime Cro Cop anymore but it helped him have success and go out on a 10 fight win streak while avenging some losses and beating some pretty big name guys.

Yea, very old CC managed to avenge his losses against Gonzaga and Roy. He probably would have beaten JDS and Mir in the rematch if he didn't get the stroke that forced him to retire. But that version of CC was old, fat, bulked up, slow af, no movement, no attacks, he doesn't even resemble his prime self.

 

[JKS]

Cro Cop at his best was a thing of beauty to watch

 

[Carrotman23]

Agree that he was a badass in his prime and at the very top of the ladder in MMA.

He came in with that 'assassin' vibe and people were scared of him for real.
View attachment 893882

He is also one of the unified lineal UFC/PRIDE champions (the 7th).

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...ight-championship-leading-to-ngannou.4196016/

Shocking that he declined so fast and so badly also though and ended up losing to guys like Roy 'blubber' Nelson but it is what it is.
View attachment 893881

Badass Croatian special forces assassin knocked out by fat redneck and hack closeted comedian . What a sport . (And yes I know he was way passed his prime with a lot of injuries and Roy Nelson is a badass and Shaub was an okay fighter and athlete, but still God damn.)

 

[Jarilo]

Agree that he was a badass in his prime and at the very top of the ladder in MMA.

He came in with that 'assassin' vibe and people were scared of him for real.
View attachment 893882

He is also one of the unified lineal UFC/PRIDE champions (the 7th).

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...ight-championship-leading-to-ngannou.4196016/

Shocking that he declined so fast and so badly also though and ended up losing to guys like Roy 'blubber' Nelson but it is what it is.
View attachment 893881

True, but the man was out of prime when he came into ufc. I remember my boxing trainer told me he ( Mirko) boxed for yugoslavia right before war, so when he got to the ufc , he was 15+ years in fight game, with numerous leg injuries ,and that didnt help his style, we never saw the head kicks ala ( my favorite vs Bernard, or going around high guard of Bonjasky and of course in next couple of pride fights, beheding everbody with a speed of light.)

 

[no fat chicks]

Cool story bro.

It's a shame many fans don't educate themselves by actually watching these Legends fight during their prime.

Instead you get some burnt out edge Lord's shitting on them for losses later in their careers and combing through their records.

Nice response to a well thought out post by TS.

 

[MCS]

I always thought that he must have light bone structure to be that big and strong when he's so light, also the strong legs. Wanderlei was heavier than him, but looked a weight class smaller. Mirko looked to be physically stronger than much heavier opponents, ripped, before he left the UFC the first time and gained some fat, looked more like an older bodybuilder when he fought Reem in Dream.

In his prime he had such a stand-up edge in MMA with his left side, speed and explosive power. Could walk guys down without much concern about anything coming back, maybe up until Randleman.

 

[Carrotman23]

Yea, very old CC managed to avenge his losses against Gonzaga and Roy. He probably would have beaten JDS and Mir in the rematch if he didn't get the stroke that forced him to retire. But that version of CC was old, fat, bulked up, slow af, no movement, no attacks, he doesn't even resemble his prime self.

Yeah really wish cro cop retired earlier, got finished brutally by people he would've almost surely smoked in his prime (except for maybe JDS and Frank Mir) .

 

[HuskySamoan]

Cro Cop is a K-1 Champion with wins over some of the greatest strikers to ever live IN THEIR PRIMES, guys who would embarrass N'Gannou and Gane standing in a Kickboxing ring more than likely.

1996 win over LeBanner
1999 win over Mike Bernardo
2001 win over Peter Aerts
2002 win over Mark Hunt
2002 win over Remy Bonjasky

He also went to an extended round decision loss vs Ernesto Hoost and had a close decision loss to Andy Hug.

Before his kickboxing days he was an amateur boxer with a record of 48-8

His accomplishments in boxing(stolen from old Sherdog thread)

• International Military Sports Council
  • 1998 CISM World Military Championships Silver Medalist
• Czech Amateur Boxing Association
  • 1998 Usti Grand Prix Bronze Medalist
• International Committee for the Mediterranean Games
  • 1997 Mediterranean Games Bronze Medalist
• Hellenic Boxing Federation
  • 1997 Acropolis Cup Silver Medalist

He actually fought 4 guys in the amateur that went on to be champions in pro boxing too.

Then the mans Pride career before the UFC? People really forget about legends.

 

[Local Plata]

It's a shame many fans don't educate themselves by actually watching these Legends fight during their prime.

Instead you get some burnt out edge Lord's shitting on them for losses later in their careers and combing through their records.

Nice response to a well thought out post by TS.

Didnt shit on anything. Just seems like a retarded thread to make completely out of the blue and not even refer to his UFC fights in the UFC section of the forum...

 

[krelianx]

If Mirko had started MMA around 1996 we would have seen him be champion in a couple years. His athletic prime was actually prior to arriving to Pride. Watch his K1 fights from before Pride and you won't believe his speed and nimbleness.

 

[FinalConflict2005]

 

[H41ph_84k3d]

Prime CC put his foot up yo ass.

 

[Kumason]

Cro Cop, Big Nog, Kharitonov all got much bigger later in their careers and it hurt them. .

Nah, Mirko never gained much weight, he just got old, slower and couldn't take much damage. His average fight weight increased about 7 or so pounds overall, which is completely natural. He was even 220 in his loss to Cheik fricken Kongo in the UFC, so I can't put too much stock into the small weight gain being the problem.
https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/fighters/mirko-filipovic-cro-cop

 

[moreorless87]

Cro Cop, Big Nog, Kharitonov all got much bigger later in their careers and it hurt them. They never adjusted their games to getting older, slower, fatter and losing their grappling ability due to injury or whatever reason. Cro Cop was the only one who finally adapted to his shortcomings from age. He couldn't rely on his high kick anymore because it was slower so he started using his elbows to win fights, and worked his ground game more. He wasn't prime Cro Cop anymore but it helped him have success and go out on a 10 fight win streak while avenging some losses and beating some pretty big name guys.

Really though I think all of them put on muscle because they lost speed rather than losing speed because they put on muscle. They all had to shift their style quite a lot and looked to build up strenght latter in their careers to help it.

Mirko is probably the most obvious in that he really shifted his style completely between his first and second UFC runs, prime Mirko focused heavily on controling distance and landing big counters but latter Mirko just wasnt fast enough to do that anymore and became more focused on slowly beating opponents down and clinch work.

 

[FIghtxIQ]

Agree that he was a badass in his prime and at the very top of the ladder in MMA.

He came in with that 'assassin' vibe and people were scared of him for real.
View attachment 893882

He is also one of the unified lineal UFC/PRIDE champions (the 7th).

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/...ight-championship-leading-to-ngannou.4196016/

Shocking that he declined so fast and so badly also though and ended up losing to guys like Roy 'blubber' Nelson but it is what it is.
View attachment 893881

He seemed a lot heavier/bulkier when he finally made his way to UFC and seemed to have lost his speed and mobility. Kind of like what happened to Conor. Seems like the extra muscle mass affected their fighting style.

 

[Grow Hogan]

CroCop was a good heavyweight.

Super boring to watch though I don't care what no one says. His boxing was very poor too despite being a runner up amateur.