Media Fedor vs Cro Cop battle of the reflexes

[Ludwig von Mises]

Man these guys were fast. Mirkos left cross is easily one of the fastest punches in the history of the sport. This is the punch he broke Bob Sapps orbital bone with. It wasn't an easy punch to avoid getting hit by because it was short and snappy. It looks stupid fast even on the slow motion replay.

Fedor did a great job of making reads and ducked out of the way beautifully. Incredible reaction time and reflexes from the GOAT Fedor. He even paried some of these shots and countered with shots of his own. Truly insane speed.

Mirko recognized that Fedor was ducking to the side and tried to adjust by throwing a hook but Fedor made a read on that too and ducked under the the left hook and countered with his own punch. To Mirko's credit he also ducked out of the way of some bombs from Fedor.

This is the pinnacle of HW fighting. Two guys meeting eachother in their prime. Incredible speed and incredible reaction time. Both guys had the reflexes of a cat. No Jon Jones style ducking and cowardice.

Study this video anon and then study it some more.

 

[tritestill]

Great Fight

 

[moreorless87]

Man these guys were fast. Mirkos left cross is easily one of the fastest punches in the history of the sport. This is the punch he broke Bob Sapps orbital bone with. It wasn't an easy punch to avoid getting hit by because it was short and snappy. It looks stupid fast even on the slow motion replay.

Fedor did a great job of making reads and ducked out of the way beautifully. Incredible reaction time and reflexes from the GOAT Fedor. He even paried some of these shots and countered with shots of his own. Truly insane speed.

Mirko recognized that Fedor was ducking to the side and tried to adjust by throwing a hook but Fedor made a read on that too and ducked under the the left hook and countered with his own punch. To Mirko's credit he also ducked out of the way of some bombs from Fedor.

This is the pinnacle of HW fighting. Two guys meeting eachother in their prime. Incredible speed and incredible reaction time. Both guys had the reflexes of a cat. No Jon Jones style ducking and cowardice.

Study this video anon and then study is some more.

I do think this is probably the best display of defencive striking in MMA from both guys, two guys with extreme KO power exchanging aggressively for I'd guess around 12-13 mins standing and both were able to avoid getting seriously hurt.

It should be posted whenever we get the old "HW was always bad" defence of the current UFC division, this fantasy people like to tell themselves that HW was always slugging until someone falls over. It used to be a division in which technically strong matches were we saw strong defence, speed and cardio was fairly common, it was the division which really got me into MMA in the first place because you had that mixed with the sense of danger that it could end so easily at any moment.

Nog vs Sergei would also be something to post in such threads.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

I do think this is probably the best display of defencive striking in MMA from both guys, two guys with extreme KO power exchanging aggressively for I'd guess around 12-13 mins standing and both were able to avoid getting seriously hurt.

It should be posted whenever we get the old "HW was always bad" defence of the current UFC division, this fantasy people like to tell themselves that HW was always slugging until someone falls over. It used to be a division in which technically strong matches were we saw strong defence, speed and cardio was fairly common, it was the division which really got me into MMA in the first place because you had that mixed with the sense of danger that it could end so easily at any moment.

Nog vs Sergei would also be something to post in such threads.

 

[Khaosan]

I’ll always remember Fedor checking some of those kicks.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

Man these guys were fast. Mirkos left cross is easily one of the fastest punches in the history of the sport. This is the punch he broke Bob Sapps orbital bone with. It wasn't an easy punch to avoid getting hit by because it was short and snappy. It looks stupid fast even on the slow motion replay.

Fedor did a great job of making reads and ducked out of the way beautifully. Incredible reaction time and reflexes from the GOAT Fedor. He even paried some of these shots and countered with shots of his own. Truly insane speed.

Mirko recognized that Fedor was ducking to the side and tried to adjust by throwing a hook but Fedor made a read on that too and ducked under the the left hook and countered with his own punch. To Mirko's credit he also ducked out of the way of some bombs from Fedor.

This is the pinnacle of HW fighting. Two guys meeting eachother in their prime. Incredible speed and incredible reaction time. Both guys had the reflexes of a cat. No Jon Jones style ducking and cowardice.

Study this video anon and then study is some more.

This move to me was absolutely incredible

Not only did Fedor defend against Cro Cop's signature move, but he countered it in one motion and attacked with his own leg kick that looked to really buckle Cro Cop's knee

If I remember correctly Fedor took this fight very seriously as Cro Cop had just KO'd Alex. He spent a lot of time in the Netherlands training with the top kickboxers like Hoost to prepare for Cro Cop, and it certainly paid off

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

This move to me was absolutely incredible

Not only did Fedor defend against Cro Cop's signature move, but he countered it in one motion and attacked with his own leg kick that looked to really buckle Cro Cop's knee

If I remember correctly Fedor took this fight very seriously as Cro Cop had just KO'd Alex. He spent a lot of time in the Netherlands training with the top kickboxers like Hoost to prepare for Cro Cop, and it certainly paid off

 

[Chayanne]

for me fedor is the goat, in his prime

 

[Greyscale]

LOL at some people still calling this wretch the GOAT

 

[Bullitt68]

To think that there is even a single person who thinks that Jones/Stipe had anything on a fight like this between fighters like this...oh well, not everyone can know everything. But for those who know, this is what it looks like when two of the very best (and one who is THE best) at the top of their games actually go head-to-head, skill-for-skill, guts-for-guts. I can't imagine a showdown like this again, especially at HW.

I also posted this once in a Fedor/Cro Cop thread, and I've since reposted it in several subsequent ones. At this point, it'd feel wrong not to repost it

Fedor definitely had a lot of material to study from, but having first his brother and then another teammate, Ibragim Magomedov, fight Cro Cop gave him much deeper insights into Cro Cop's style. The part about Aleks not being able to shoot low really doesn't factor in, as nobody was putting Cro Cop down from doubles; it was all about the clinch, either overpowering him in close the way Ron Waterman did or by getting body locks and trips the way Fedor did. Aleks tried to lock up with Cro Cop but he didn't have the skills that Fedor did, hence he didn't have the success that Fedor did.

For me, the two most impressive moments from Fedor in the fight with Cro Cop were, first, when he checked one of Cro Cop's body kicks, indicating that he'd not only been practicing his Muay Thai but that he'd been specifically practicing for Cro Cop's notorious liver kicks, and second, when he thwarted Cro Cop's momentum by smashing him with a huge straight-right hand. Just like against Aleks, Cro Cop did a ton of circling away, but when he wanted to switch to offense, his feet would slowly stop moving, he'd start measuring you, and before you knew it you were the one circling away from him. Against Aleks, that's when the LHK came. Against Fedor, however, Fedor sensed it and so rather than retreat and let Cro Cop pick him apart, he blitzed him and totally fucked up his rhythm. Cro Cop was never in the fight after that save for that fleeting moment when he caught Fedor coming in with the straight-left hand, only to slip multiple times on the same fucking spot in the ring and eventually fall down with Fedor on top and that was pretty much all she wrote...

The sequence with Cro Cop building momentum only to have it squashed by Fedor's straight-right is time-stamped below:

 

[moreorless87]

Ironically I think the slip actually made Mirko's LHK seem closer than it was, that basically shifted him forward a bit so the underside of his calf hit Fedor slightly. The issue for me really was Mirko was having to rush in that situation, he had a bit of an opening when he broke Fedor's nose doubling up his jab but he snatched at it because he was losing the standup otherwise, rushed his LHK when off balance when the opening wasnt really there.

That was really Fedor's tactic IMHO, don't focus on the takedown attempt which Mirko was prepaired to counter, just focus on beating him standing(no mean feat of course) and then take him down when he made errors pushing forward too aggressively.

 

[AstralPanda]

Man these guys were fast. Mirkos left cross is easily one of the fastest punches in the history of the sport. This is the punch he broke Bob Sapps orbital bone with. It wasn't an easy punch to avoid getting hit by because it was short and snappy. It looks stupid fast even on the slow motion replay.

Fedor did a great job of making reads and ducked out of the way beautifully. Incredible reaction time and reflexes from the GOAT Fedor. He even paried some of these shots and countered with shots of his own. Truly insane speed.

Mirko recognized that Fedor was ducking to the side and tried to adjust by throwing a hook but Fedor made a read on that too and ducked under the the left hook and countered with his own punch. To Mirko's credit he also ducked out of the way of some bombs from Fedor.

This is the pinnacle of HW fighting. Two guys meeting eachother in their prime. Incredible speed and incredible reaction time. Both guys had the reflexes of a cat. No Jon Jones style ducking and cowardice.

Study this video anon and then study is some more.

This is good thank you

 

[Bullitt68]

Ironically I think the slip actually made Mirko's LHK seem closer than it was, that basically shifted him forward a bit so the underside of his calf hit Fedor slightly. The issue for me really was Mirko was having to rush in that situation, he had a bit of an opening when he broke Fedor's nose doubling up his jab but he snatched at it because he was losing the standup otherwise, rushed his LHK when off balance when the opening wasnt really there.

His calf wouldn't have opened up a cut. Cro Cop hit Fedor's head with his heel. That's how he split Fedor's head open. And that's literally as close as it gets. Lesser men were rocked or KO'd by Cro Cop's heel, from Ron Waterman to Dos Caras. I also don't think he rushed anything. He hurt Fedor, he pressed him, but he unfortunately slipped. And in the same fucking spot multiple times. It was like watching the Nog TD all over again, almost as if an evil genie swooped down and hexed one tiny part of the ring to prevent Cro Cop from winning those fights. At least, that's what it felt like as a Cro Cop fan watching him come so close to beating his fellow top dog HWs.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

His calf wouldn't have opened up a cut. Cro Cop hit Fedor's head with his heel. That's how he split Fedor's head open. And that's literally as close as it gets. Lesser men were rocked or KO'd by Cro Cop's heel, from Ron Waterman to Dos Caras. I also don't think he rushed anything. He hurt Fedor, he pressed him, but he unfortunately slipped. And in the same fucking spot multiple times. It was like watching the Nog TD all over again, almost as if an evil genie swooped down and hexed one tiny part of the ring to prevent Cro Cop from winning those fights. At least, that's what it felt like as a Cro Cop fan watching him come so close to beating his fellow top dog HWs.

That shot didn't graze Fedors head it, it landed the same way it landed on Wand and Dos Caras Jr. It legitimately cracked Fedor's head open.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

This is good thank you

You're welcome brother.

 

[HHJ]

Man these guys were fast. Mirkos left cross is easily one of the fastest punches in the history of the sport. This is the punch he broke Bob Sapps orbital bone with. It wasn't an easy punch to avoid getting hit by because it was short and snappy. It looks stupid fast even on the slow motion replay.

Fedor did a great job of making reads and ducked out of the way beautifully. Incredible reaction time and reflexes from the GOAT Fedor. He even paried some of these shots and countered with shots of his own. Truly insane speed.

Mirko recognized that Fedor was ducking to the side and tried to adjust by throwing a hook but Fedor made a read on that too and ducked under the the left hook and countered with his own punch. To Mirko's credit he also ducked out of the way of some bombs from Fedor.

This is the pinnacle of HW fighting. Two guys meeting eachother in their prime. Incredible speed and incredible reaction time. Both guys had the reflexes of a cat. No Jon Jones style ducking and cowardice.

Study this video anon and then study is some more.

Excellent stuff

 

[HHJ]

That was really Fedor's tactic IMHO, don't focus on the takedown attempt which Mirko was prepaired to counter, just focus on beating him standing(no mean feat of course) and then take him down when he made errors pushing forward too aggressively.

Yep, eventually his opponent would crack under his aggression in a way that would make a takedown possible, rather than actively forcing one.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

LOL at some people still calling this wretch the GOAT

You still crying you little rat?

 

[moreorless87]

Yep, eventually his opponent would crack under his aggression in a way that would make a takedown possible, rather than actively forcing one.

A combination of that and chaining takedowns into striking meant he was rarely having to go in really deep for takedowns.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Greatest fight in MMA history, prove me wrong.

I do think this is probably the best display of defencive striking in MMA from both guys, two guys with extreme KO power exchanging aggressively for I'd guess around 12-13 mins standing and both were able to avoid getting seriously hurt.

It should be posted whenever we get the old "HW was always bad" defence of the current UFC division, this fantasy people like to tell themselves that HW was always slugging until someone falls over. It used to be a division in which technically strong matches were we saw strong defence, speed and cardio was fairly common, it was the division which really got me into MMA in the first place because you had that mixed with the sense of danger that it could end so easily at any moment.

Nog vs Sergei would also be something to post in such threads.

HW was THE division for over a decade until people gaslit themselves into believing that it was always just a bunch of heavy fat guys swangan at eachother. There's a reason we hold the lineal HW champion in much higher regard than the fucking LW lineal champion.

Ludwig...I can't believe I'm saying this, but you've become a quality poster on the site, surprisingly.