I watched all of Crocop's fights in chronological order in the last 2 weeks...

[SharkBoy]

personally, i think if Prime Crocop met JDS, Cain in the ring, he'd destroy them, if he met them in the cage, he'd lose to Cain

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

If Cro Cop stared his career today as a young man, he would have probably competed at LHW. I think he would have done well too. Wouldn't beat Jones imo though.

I strongly disagree, a prime Cro Cop at LHW would destroy Jones, he would be too strong for him his TDD would be the best in the division and Jones wouldn't be able to handle his stand up.

 

[SharkBoy]

Meh. I fully believe that a Prime Cro Cop would have shit canned a prime JDS. Maybe I'm wrong and JDS wins, but I remember when Cro Cop was FAST and brutal with his strikes. He had arguably the best straight punch in MMA and no doubt the most lethal kicks. He was a different fighter.

The guy had 27 MMA fights and around 23 K1 fights by the time he came to the UFC...and he was 32 years old.

Cro Cop should have done better in the UFC, no doubt about that, but there is no doubt that he was physically and mentally shot with his fights in the UFC.

My personal belief is that he was done with fighting in 2006 but agreed to fight in Final Conflict to avenge his loss to Fedor and take the pay. Once Fedor hurt his hand and Nog lost to Barnett Cro Cop had an easy road to the championship and it made him look like a beast, but he was already on his physical decline. I think after that point he was done with fighting but just couldn't turn down the cash.

completely agree with your assessment

The worst argument I know is 'oh so now that they lost they are out of their primes'
I think both Fedor and Crocop left their primes about the time they fought. Crocop perhaps even earlier. But both were able to continue a bit because they were that good

 

[Krazybee129]

i love crocop but he did fought most japanese cans and by the time he came to ufc, he was done

 

[Katsumi Yamada]

And as for Crocop beating Igor Vovchanchyn: Igor is a legend just like Crocop but then again, he is a pretty small, short and one dimensional striker himself. Meaning if you let Igor fight the same guys Crocop fought in the UFC, in my humble opinion he would lose most of those fights. That doesn't diminish the legacy of guys like Crocop and Igor because they built this sport. I would never say "Joe Louis is a bum because Tyson would beat him". Tyson could only become Tyson because there was a Joe Louis earlier and Joe Louis could only become Joe Louis because there was a Jack Johnson earlier.

say what you want about the size of Igor, 130 MMA and kickboxing fights, knocked out once...by Mirko.

 

[eXtv]

Cro Cop had a shit-ton of mileage on his body by the time he had to come to America and adjust to a new environment, new rules, and new judging in the UFC.

Over 20 Kickboxing bouts against monsters like Hoost, Hunt, Hug and Bernardo. Over 40 amateur Boxing fights in which he won the Silver Medal at the World Military Championships. And of course over 25 MMA fights against some of the best fighters of his generation, mixing it up with Barnett, Fedor and Minotauro, multiple times in some cases.

The guy's body was definitely not in the same condition by the time he came to America and the nasty knee/ankle ligament injury he got from the Gonzaga knockout and multiple surgeries on his knees, elbows, and arms over the years really took it out of him.

The guy who was slept by Brendan Schaub, Frank Mir and Gabriel Gonzaga is not the guy that became the only man to ever knock out Igor Vovchanchyn, the guy that mounted Josh Barnett and dominated him, and the guy that utterly mauled the competition to take the 2006 GP.

 

[Guts]

CroCop will out fight, shoot, and drink any of you. That is all.

 

[daniel san]

Many people believed that because Cro-Cop was the third best HW in pride that he was the third best HW in the world such was not the case.

Nope that's actually pretty correct. The UFC HW division was during Pride's heydays inferior, but as many people pointed out Crocop had started to decline before his UFC days.

 

[filthynumber1]

Gonzaga ended it

 

[RJ43]

Many people believed that because Cro-Cop was the third best HW in pride that he was the third best HW in the world such was not the case.

We'll never know but I'd put my savings on Cro Cop in a fight against the likes of Sylvia, Ricco, Andrei, Mir and any other contender that was in the UFC in 2004-2005. I'd also probably have picked him in a rematch against Nog in that same time frame.

So I personally thought that there were times when Cro Cop was the 2nd best HW in the world and no lower than maybe 4.

 

[supark]

Since you watched all of his fights, who do you think won Hug fight and why?
I expect answer in less than 5 minutes, or you are cheating

You mean his K1 fight against Andy Hug? I watched all of his MMA fights (Pride, UFC, Andy Hug Memorial, Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye etc.) but not all of his K1 fights. I have watched a few of his K1 fights but some time ago and I don't think I saw his fight against Hug which is obviously not an MMA fight.

 

[MilesAbove]

I don't know why we all look for excuses... but look at Crocop's contemporaries during the period of his UFC run.

Sakuraba: beaten on.
Liddell: Wind knocks him out.
Fedor: Begins to lose.
Arlovski: Liddelled.
Rampage: shadow of former self.
Wandy: Plastic surgery and 185lbs.
Shogun: Championship, but no knees.
Hughes: Fades and retires.

Crocop's era was over. It happens to all the best.

 

[groo]

i refuse to remember cro cop's run in the ufc

That was his brother Michael....Mirko never fought in the UFC. :icon_neut:icon_sad:

 

[RJ43]

I highly doubt Cro Cop would have fought at LHW. He was a very lean, muscular 220+ and he carried his weight perfectly. There wouldn't be a whole lot to cut. There aren't enough huge, talented HW's to force him down to LHW at any point in his career. Even today we see how speed and endurance edge out size in most cases and he definitely fit into that category.

 

[Highflyer]

Bah,,, I only read the first page and that was enough for me to say you (as well as a few ppl) are mostly wrong in your analysis, especially the "stepping up in competition" since coming to the UFC.

Cro Cop fought Alex E, Josh Barnett, and Fedor E already. You can't get any better than that in competition, especially with the latter 2 guys... Hahaha like Kongo, Brenda Schaub and Frank Mir are better competition than the aforementioned.

I think Cro Cop was nearing his end when he entered into the UFC. He still had some left, but not much more. And then the Gonzaga fight happened. And that was it. After that Cro Cop was just broken and gun shy.

And, I don't ever recall Cro cop weighing 213 lbs. I often see him listed as 225 lbs.

 

[Wand4Life]

Sooo.... Igor is just a 1 dimensional striker, and CroCop should have been in the UFC fighting Kongo all along instead?

Seems legit.

 

[JKS]

I agree with pretty much most of the point. I have always been a huge Cro Cop fan from the Pride days......and I expected him to be champ when he came to the UFC. Which really wasnt so farfetched considering the best UFC HWs at the time were Couture, Tim, Gonzaga, Lesnar and Carwin came later and Mir. Considering Cro Cop beat guys like Barnett and did well vs Fedor/Nog he could have beaten those guys at his best......they could have beaten him as well though. So it wasnt like Cro Cop was on a another level.

But when it comes to Cro Cop....I really think that the perception he has comes more from his K1 background and great KO's rather then him actually being that good. I frankly didnt think Cro Cop was that great of a HW......or even a striker. He was good but there were many times in his MMA career where he was beaten by strikes......and vs guys that had no business out striking him.

No question a top 10 HW all time and on the level of a Mir, Barnett......but not up there with the best of the best.

 

[Highflyer]

I also think Cro Cop might have been a little arrogant thinking he would just run through the UFC heavies at the time and that's what cost him against Gonzaga. And after that fight he was never the same again.

 

[ali2013champ]

Bah,,, I only read the first page and that was enough for me to say you (as well as a few ppl) are mostly wrong in your analysis, especially the "stepping up in competition" since coming to the UFC.

Cro Cop fought Alex E, Josh Barnett, and Fedor E already. You can't get any better than that in competition, especially with the latter 2 guys... Hahaha like Kongo, Brenda Schaub and Frank Mir are better competition than the aforementioned.

I think Cro Cop was nearing his end when he entered into the UFC. He still had some left, but not much more. And then the Gonzaga fight happened. And that was it. After that Cro Cop was just broken and gun shy.

And, I don't ever recall Cro cop weighing 213 lbs. I often see him listed as 225 lbs.

true you can argue Barnett was at top of his game in PRIDE and now he is just older ,and you know what? He's TOP 5 right now and just knocked out Frank mir

 

[KarmaPolice]

Why can't someone just get old? I'm 38 and I hurt all over from the stupid $hit I did in my 20's. I couldn't imagine taking a beating for a living and see how that felt now.