Who was the better heavyweight striker between Overeem and Cro Cop?

[ermac88]

Natty Overeem was mid, juiced Overeem was goodView attachment 1017253

natty, ehanced and back



Dude was a monster on that stuff

 

[dildos]

this is a really good question, but both came from different eras really.

in the end of it all id have to probably side with overeem.

no one ever dispatched the new breed todd duffee like that before.

 

[Koro_11]

Relaaaax little buckaroo

"A couple Pride legends were out of their prime"

A COUPLE means two. Thats not discounting EVERYONE

OK, still the “sanctioned fights” comment, what are even trying to say?

 

[ermac88]

OK, still the “sanctioned fights” comment, what are even trying to say?

Some fighters just didnt do well in sanctioned organizations with ranked real fighters.

Not all, clearly Shogun, Rampage and Silva were not just champions but Silva is regarded as one of the best ever.

 

[moreorless87]

My dad trained with him a few times when Cro Cop was was a younger man, my dad is about 10-15 years older than Mirko and was one of Branko Cikatic's training partners way back in the day in Tigar Gym. We're gonna try to find his old photo albums from back then the next time we visit the Old Country. Will share here if I manage to get ahold of them, maybe there a picture of Mirko somewhere lurking in there.
Branko was too much of a fucking maniac to fight in MMA (watch his fight with Kerr where he elbowed Kerr in the back of the head about 30 times) but in kickboxing, he's a legend, the first K-1 WGP champion and I think still widely considered one of the greatest HW kickboxers of all time, which is impressive at 6'2" 215lbs.

To be fair I think Branko in MMA was just one of those fights were a K1 guy was shifted across with almost zero prep plus of course he was 43 years old.

If he'd taken MMA seriously and been 10-15 years younger I think his style might actually have worked quite well, almost the total opposite of Mirko but very aggressive powerful boxing and a strong chin ala Mark Hunt I think tends to do better in MMA than more technical defensive kickboxing which depends on the big gloves for defence ala Hoost.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

To be fair I think Branko in MMA was just one of those fights were a K1 guy was shifted across with almost zero prep plus of course he was 43 years old.

If he'd taken MMA seriously and been 10-15 years younger I think his style might actually have worked quite well, almost the total opposite of Mirko but very aggressive powerful boxing and a strong chin ala Mark Hunt I think tends to do better in MMA than more technical defensive kickboxing which depends on the big gloves for defence ala Hoost.

I can't even explain how much I agree with this post.

 

[crofighter]

I think if you look at their fight you have the answer.

That fight was in 2008, just over a year after Cro Cop fought Gonzaga.

I know it ended in a NC but it sure looked to me like Overeem was gonna be able to get a W there.

And he was doing it with takedowns and using his more complete well rounded game. Cro Cop might have been "shot" at that time, but his take down defense still looked as good as ever in his recent fights and I just don't think he had declined so much that you can watch that fight and tell me that version of Overeem wouldn't have done the same thing to Cro Cop from 2 years prior when he was at the height of his career.


Edit; I just realized you said striker. That's a whole different discussion.

To be fair, if I'm not mistaken, I think Mirko had the worst injury of his career before that fight where his knee blew out completely. Something similar happened before his scheduled fight versus Nelson at Bellator 200.
Maybe it was before his next fight against HMC, not sure anymore, but I know it was in 2008 amd considering he was wearing knee braces, I think it was right before Overeem fight and he even postponed some surgery etc.

 

[Koro_11]

Some fighters just didnt do well in sanctioned organizations with ranked real fighters.

Not all, clearly Shogun, Rampage and Silva were not just champions but Silva is regarded as one of the best ever.

Again, who are you referring to? Be specific, who in pride didn’t fight “ranked real fighters” by your definition?

 

[Preston broadus]

Mirko's mid kick was also very dangerous but I think the real difference is in defence, Reem was never that good a defencive boxer IMHO and without the big gloves he often struggled when people got in his face.

Mirko's performance against Wand the second time is one of the best lateral movement ever in MMA IMHO.

Crocop in the 2nd wand fight was as good as anyone ever was. Wanderlei in that fight was as much a warrior as anyone ever was.

 

[ermac88]

Again, who are you referring to? Be specific, who in pride didn’t fight “ranked real fighters” by your definition?

I read your post with the emotional conviction of your avatar gif

Nah sherbro, Ill leave it alone. lol

Ill just say, some did very well outside of Pride, some did not. For whatever reasons.

 

[Ibm]

Well Cro Cop had the bests legs, overeem was way more well rounded.

 

[Koro_11]

I read your post with the emotional conviction of your avatar gif

Nah sherbro, Ill leave it alone. lol

I’ll just say, some did very well outside of Pride, some did not. For whatever reasons.

that I can agree with.

 

[moreorless87]

Crocop in the 2nd wand fight was as good as anyone ever was. Wanderlei in that fight was as much a warrior as anyone ever was.

I think that does show you the idea Mirko was vulnerable to pressure is nonsense, could look at fights like Igor, Herring, Aleks, etc as well plus of course Sapp in K1.

Reem on the other hand was a lot more vulnerable to pressure IMHO, the way Stipe beat him espeically I think shows you the difference in terms of movement, just backing up to the cage or turning and running rather than lateral movement.

Its also I think part of why Mirko dropped off IMHO, not having the speed to hint his big counters was part of it but not having the mobility/reactions for defence was another. He has to totally change the way he fought in his 2nd UFC run.

 

[Gotosleepho]

I'm leaning towards Reem.

 

[HHJ]

natty, ehanced and back

View attachment 1017262

Dude was a monster on that stuff

Even though thats what a normal dude his age would look like,its still crazy to see Reem look like that. Skinnier than even when he was a LHW