Pre ufc mirko was a beast. Anyone who watched his career can see the obvious differences in his speed and movement before he even got to the ufc. Knee surgeries take a lot away when your best weapons are high kicks. He had to resort to more punching far more and even tho he was a very good boxer, he became far more predictable. Much like shogun losing to forrest,.It wasnt because they were over rated, but because they were on the downhill side of thier career and both had multiple acl/mcl procedures done that changed their ability to be fluid.
He could have easily made weight at LHW as he fought at a lesser weight than bones walks around at. Unlike jon, he has balls and fought guys that were in his natural weight class. He was a hard fight for anyone in the day. His striking was elite for sure. After someone like him has fought for so long and theres so much tape to watch, it makes it far easier for guys like gg to gameplan against him. Gg set that high kick up from the opening bell until he had mirko hurt from ground elbows, I Guaranteed it was the gameplan to throw that lazy jab repeatedly to set up the hk. He kept poking at him with it and mirko fell for the feint and ate the kick.
He also destroyed gg in rematch. The elbows on the ground by gg were a big factor as well, I remember Kirk post fight saying he was seeing 3 ggs from the elbows on the ground. Mirko had never fought where they were allowed or in a cage where he could be pushed against the fence. Hell the kongo fight he got kneed in the balls like 3 or 4 times. Alot contributed to his less than stellar record in the ufc, but in my opinion, his lack of mobility due to his knees was the biggest problem and the new rule set with elbows as well as the difference between the thing he fought his whole career in and the cage was big.
He relied on foot movement and speed when he was at his best. Compared to his days in pride he threw way way less kicks in general. His leg kicks were brutal and set up his body and the infamous left high kick well. Guys couldnt keep eating body shots or leg kicks from a guy with that power in them. Everyone knew the LHK was coming, but no one could really stop it effectively because of the low and body kicks that were flying.
He had to lose that and do more boxing which didnt turn out so well. I doubt he would ever fight at LHW because he is a badass in real life and always wanted the toughest guys he could get. He actually had multiple tko wins from leg and body kicks. Dont know of anyone else who can claim that many kick finishes. Having 30 of his 38 wins by ko is also pretty impressive.
I think a pride pre Fedor fight mirko beats bones and all other current LHW guys. I know he had 10 surguries from 1 dr. 5 on his knees alone. It's hard to get back to the level he was with all that stuff. Just like when shogun had both knees done, just was never the same after. People blow him off as an all time great, but in the day he was one of the best ever. Great tdd and striking above everyone around pretty much. Ko power from all his strikes pretty much. Speed was great until the injuries. When it was really "righ kick ..hospital, left kick. cemetary...its hard to say he wasnt a great fighter. He even learned BJJ very well from werdume and got sub wins after a few years. At LHW I think he would have dominated, but he was never one to take the easy road. A true badass...
