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Reviving Mirko Cro Cop
By John Philapavage | January 8, 2008
Editor’s note – the author forgot to checkmark the ‘allow comments’ option on this column. I have check-marked it so that comments are open.
I remember when a left high kick was among the most feared motions in MMA a year back. Maybe that’s because Mirko Cro Cop was the most feared striker in mixed martial arts and he was throwing the kicks. But then, I still remember when Liddell punch target, Wanderlei Silva, was thought to be the baddest man on the planet. Or further back, when Ken Shamrock was the face of MMA in the United States. Not that time, Dana White, stop arguing fighter values with me! I know what you did, I know. Changed the rules and… Anyway, I’m talking about Bob Meyrowitz’s Ultimate Fighting star, Ken Shamrock. The 1990s “baddest man on the planet”. Remember him? He had a brother who…I guess it’s easier to remember history of a fourteen-year-old sport if you are just a fan who reads alot. The UFC’s home page might not keep accurate history, but it’s not like organized MMA has the time line of baseball or soccer. If the Shamrock’s legacy is slowly being silenced, how will Cro Cop be remembered if his career in America ends today?
I guess we internet opinion (babblers) makers fill up enough space each day that a person’s mind might get lost trying to remember just who Mirko Filipovic use to be. Last year this week alot of us were buzzing coming off the big UFC card in Las Vegas. UFC 66 was headlined by Tito Ortiz and Liddell, but coming out of the show early was the news that Cro Cop had signed a deal with the UFC. A reported (and later confirmed) six fight deal.
Cro Cop had just spent 2006 rebounding from two losses in 2005. He’s been set back by world number one Fedor Emelianenko and on New Year’s Eve by Mark Hunt, both by decisions. In 2006 the Croatian star defeated Minowa, and then Japanese hope Yoshida. He topped off the year by winning the 2006 Pride Open Weight Grand Prix beating Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett. There was talk of matching him up with Fedor again. He was said to be back and at the top of his game. He left Pride and signed with the UFC. It was obvious to anyone who knew anything that he would walk through heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. He could run the table all year; perhaps have a fight with a well known fighter after winning the title in the summer. Randy Couture was coming back, after all, and that would be a money match Cro Cop was sure to win. He’d need that validation since by then the new champ would be gearing up for a late December show down with lightweight champ Chuck Liddell. It would be a super fight, and many arm chair bookers couldn’t wait for the strikers to battle.
2007 came. The big dream scenarios ended.
In fact, 2007 was worse than 2005 for Mirko Cro Cop. At least in 2005 he lost to major stars. He managed one win in 2007, beating Eddie Sanchez in his debut in February. His heavyweight title options took a setback when he lost to Gonzaga in April, and his European marketability took a hit with a second straight loss overseas to Chieck Kongo. There was talk of retirement, but Cro Cop backed off. The Croatian sensation was a complete bust in 2007. He ended the Year in Japan on New Year’s Eve, not in a role on a major MMA show, but running on for a comedic cameo during a HUSTLE pro wrestling show. His reputation and legacy has taken a hit, and a title shot seems unlikely. What is left are three fights in ‘08, and the question of what can be salvaged of his career.
I’ve thought up three paths I can see the Croatian Sensation being booked into. I don’t know that any of these will happen, but it’s food for thought as to where Cro cop goes from here. The scenarios are grouped into him being booked to make others look good, him being booked neutrally, and him being booked for a comeback run.
1. Making a star:
If Dana White and UFC booker Joe Silva see Cro Cop as a lost cause or damaged beyond repair, they could look to make other stars with what credibility is left. I’d see this as likely, and I also see this as sellable to the public. Most people not being hardcores, they don’t have to mention any of his UFC loses, and if they do, just mention them in passing. Most of my friends who like MMA don’t follow closely. They don’t remember who wins from month to month, only that they were entertained or not. Cro Cop has a whole library of big knockouts in PRIDE, and Zuffa just happens to own the footage.
If Brock Lesnar gets past Frank Mir, this would be an excellent test for both. The idea would be to make Lesnar by promoting it as his next big test. The wrestler has beaten a talented ground submission grappler in Mir, but can he beat the legendary striker, Cro Cop. It doesn’t matter that Cro Cop isn’t viewed the same way he was a year ago by people reading this article. It’s selling a wrestler vs striker fight to the masses using two marketable stars that pays the bills.
If Lesnar wins, he’s got two big matches under his belt, both being quality wins, and now he’s proven something to a good percentage of people. It puts him in the conversation at heavyweight or at least proves he deserves to be treated seriously. If Cro Cop wins, they can begin the push to rehab him, because Lesnar will have the promotion behind him to make this a high profile win (possibly even viewed from the outside as upset) for Mirko. They can feed Rogan’s headset with words about a legend reborn. You heard what they said about Liddell being back after beating the equally aged and war-tired Silva? Just copy and paste.
Staying with our sub topic though, Cro Cops name and legacy can be fed to younger fighters like Lesnar. He can be asked – and eventually bullied like Dan Henderson – into a weight drop to 205 where he can be fed to Machida, Sokoudjou, and other young lions with the same promotional ideas outlined above.
2. Building Up:
Perhaps I am just stuck in such a negative outlook on Cro Cop’s career it’s affecting my ability to think of fighters, but I’m having trouble thinking of an opening opponent to build him up. If we are going with the idea the UFC wants to give him three fights with the idea of having him resign before the third (that being a bigger name fight), who the heck do we feed him to renew his confidence? Andrei Arlovski would be a great match for the European market, especially considering both fighter names would need to be combined to draw as they are individually weaker than they have been in years. However, Arlovski looks to be on his way out the door and frankly, he’d probably beat Cro Cop. Gonzaga? Too soon. Frank Mir? Assuming he beats Lesnar, I think he might already be ahead of Cro Cop in the minds that control the UFC.
I think we can settle on names like Heath Herring and Justin McCully. If Cro Cop can beat one of these men solidly, he’d get the other. I’d think McCully would go first, as Herring is still a step up. Perhaps Antoni Hardonk can be added to the conversation. Think I’m being harsh? Cro Cop was beaten in every way you can possibly be beat in one round before being knocked out. Then he was dominated by a man with little ground game who comes from the same kickboxing background that Cro Cop does. He needs to earn his way back.
If he proves to be having a resurgence, his third or fourth fight could be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. The fight they had in November of 2003 is still one of my favorites of all time simply for the strategy and story. It would be worth it to see what five years and a geographic switch in the center of MMA has done to the match up.
3. Neutrality AKA the “hardcore superfight”
If the idea is just to book matches for those fans that loved the concept of Silva vs Liddell or Fedor vs Couture, then I have some super fights for Mirko Cro Cop. These would be booked with the idea that either fighter can win, and it doesn’t make a difference, because it means nothing to them moving up or down a pecking order. Basically, these are fights for entertainment and not necessarily for forward traction.
Two that I think a lot of people wouldn’t mind seeing are Liddell vs Cro Cop and Silva vs Cro Cop. Both are striker vs striker matches and require Cro Cop to cut weight. He walks around at what Liddell does, if not lower, but he’s stubborn. It can be done.
Liddell can get away with these derailments because he doesn’t need to win or lose for casual fans to buy his fights. He just needs to show up. Had he lost against Silva, the third straight might make fans lose interest, but the first two loses certainly didn’t. The crowds still love him. It would be an exciting match, but probably more important to UFC, they’d expect Liddell to win and beat another “Pride legend” – if you buy in to that sort of stuff.
It doesn’t matter that Wanderlei Silva has lost three in a row or just been beaten by Liddell either. To most UFC fans he’s only lost his debut, and it was a great fight. They’ll love to see him again. Much more than that Machida guy, or even Sokoudjou. They don’t know what Soko is capable of, only that he lost a dull fight. It’s also irrelevant that Silva lost to Cro Cop last year. Again, it can be spun to a positive. Two PRIDE legends battling for who was the greatest PRIDE fighter of all time? They went to a draw. Years later Cro Cop caught Silva. Silva says it was a lucky shot. Who will be remembered as the greatest? Roll buying information screen now.
Finding out if there is a comeback, perhaps some fight left in Mirko Cro Cop, is almost irrelevant. There’s money left in Cro Cop, and that’s what will bring him back to the cage. He has many options that will make the UFC money, and without seeing his contract, I’d assume it’s a lucrative year for Cro Cop. It doesn’t matter that the right high kick isn’t the most feared motion in MMA any longer. The UFC’s willingness to use the footage of that kick and promote it correctly is what will make or break whatever slot they choose to place the Croatian in.
E-mail John Philapavage at johnnyp@mmaopinion.com
Topics: All Topics, John Philapavage, MMA, UFC | 12 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback | Share This
crocop has always been an inconsistent performer, from his K1 days where he was frustratingly brittle/fragile combined with arrogant, with flashes of brilliance
he carried all this on into PRIDE. Pride people knew all these things, and nurtured and protected crocop with a steady diet of Japanese and other foreign jobbers, with a super fight every now and again
im sure he could be rehabilitated, but his into pro wrestling has probably buried his MMA career embarassing him and his fans
Was this article written by a native english speaker? It’s a total mess.
I couldn’t even get past the first paragraph:
“Or further back, when Ken Shamrock was the face of MMA in the United States. Not that time, Dana White, stop arguing fighter values with me! I know what you did, I know. Changed the rules and… Anyway, I’m talking about Bob Meyrowitz’s Ultimate Fighting star, Ken Shamrock. The 1990s “baddest man on the planet”. Remember him? He had a brother who…I guess it’s easier to remember history of a fourteen-year-old sport if you are just a fan who reads alot. The UFC’s home page might not keep accurate history, but it’s not like organized MMA has the time line of baseball or soccer.”
what?
Fire this writer. He makes little to no sense and doesn’t have even the most rudimentary grasp of sentence structure.
The article is decent but it could use some stricter editing.
Just give the man some HRT.
“I think we can settle on names like Heath Herring and Justin McCully. If Cro Cop can beat one of these men solidly, he’d get the other. I’d think McCully would go first, as Herring is still a step up. Perhaps Antoni Hardonk can be added to the conversation. Think I’m being harsh? Cro Cop was beaten in every way you can possibly be beat in one round before being knocked out. Then he was dominated by a man with little ground game who comes from the same kickboxing background that Cro Cop does. He needs to earn his way back.”
Gosh this guy is about as harsh as the Sherdoggers. When a fighter gets 1 or 2 losses in a row, they get labelled “washed up” right away. So Lesnar, a 1-0 newbie to MMA, is worthy of Frank Mir but Cro Cop has to “earn his way back” up from the bottom in the HW division? I sense some PRIDE bias. Losing to Gonzaga and Kongo doesn’t make you bottom of the barrel. I don’t think Cro Cop should be fighting Arlovski at this point but he should at least get a decently positioned heavyweight in order to get back on track. Cro Cop makes $350k a fight guaranteed and probably gets a PPV bonus for PPV events. To have Cro Cop fight that low in the HW division is ridiculous.
I agree.
Given how much he’s being paid and the hype they’ve given him, either allow him the opportunity to battle back into contention by fighting a guy like Arlovski or build-up the other guy’s name by having a win over Cro Cop.
I really don’t see the good in having him fight a guy like McCully who I don’t think will EVER be a top contender at HW in the UFC.
Yeah he shouldn’t be fighting low level competition. Arlovski would be risky to Cro Cop’s career though (hence why I’m not too keen on it). If Cro Cop loses 3 in a row, that would be awful. But I see Cro Cop winning. Cro Cop’s trainers have said that he bulked up to 231 pounds (he was 220 vs Kongo, 225 vs Gonzaga) and if he’s focused, he’ll win.
I don’t want to kick the crap out of a dead horse, but I was waiting for comments to open up on this so I could point out that I didn’t finish reading this thing due to the lack of editing. This place isn’t Sherdog, so I’m not used to Mike Sloan style sentence structure. This article might be substantively worth discussing, but I couldn’t get past the first paragraph. Sorry.
Well, I struggled through the horrid writing. His concepts are decent, but but he seems to be one of those recent MMA writers who got obsessed with the sport, reads all he can, watches every video on Dailymotion, and now thinks he understands the sport. Give fans a little more credit than thinking they dont know these fighters outside of the UFC.
And take an English class.
Outside of the glaring things in this, but its funny that one of the things I first noticed was in the first sentence, this originally said ‘right high kick.’ There is nothing more off-putting than somebody getting a really obvious fact wrong in the first sentence.
Its funny that its fixed, but it was a lot more funny when that was wrong.
So fight opinion is hiring third graders to write for them?