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

[Glove]

For me personally it is Mirko Filipovic. Overeem was more adaptable in the ring as opposed to Filipovic in MMA. Kickboxing wise both were highly skilled in the ring.

 

[jeskola]

Mirko

This fucking guy

 

[cheesus]

It's very close. The longevity is about dead even both in the range of 80+ fights. Overeem has more names on his resume with Cro Cop having more titles, both won a K1GP though Reems run was much more stacked. Both were very strong finishes very rarely winning by a decision, Reem was more well rounded as both a grappler and striker, but he had the worse defeats and was finished a lot more.

I'd give the slight edge to Cro Cop, their kickboxing careers were pretty equal though Cro Cop was better in his prime and competed in the glory days of K1, he won more titles in MMA as well as being a little more consistent. As talented and respectable as Overeem was, his prime was clearly highly influenced from being steroid abuse. I doubt Cro Cop was natural himself but he wasn't clearly abusing performance enhancing drugs like Overeem.

 

[swarrrm]

Reem overall with cc having the better high kicks

 

[arcadeperfect]

Reem, had more longevity and overall better career despite the occasional ko/tko loss. Cro Cop was pretty much done after Gonzaga. Reem came back time and time again to win, even changing his game entirely later on in his career which shows high fight IQ.

He changed his fighting style 3 times irrc.

 

[CasualBot]

When they cut to Fedor smilin'... classic mma moment

 

[shockwave kicker]

Cro cop is a striker. Overeem is an MMA fighter.

There's your answer

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

Cro cop is a striker. Overeem is an MMA fighter.

There's your answer

That must be why Cro Cop submitted Randleman in the rematch and KOed Gonzaga with GnP in the rematch.

 

[JuanSmaqaho]

I think a better way to put this is if ya had Reem vs Crocop who would you bet on?

Prime vs prime? I'd go with Mirko. In mma or K1.

 

[shockwave kicker]

That must be why Cro Cop submitted Randleman in the rematch and KOed Gonzaga with GnP in the rematch.

I'm talking about their base. There is nothing Overeem does better striking than Cro Cop.

They're both glass jaws, talking about their fighting prowess

 

[ermac88]

Was Cro Cop no longer in his prime when he fought Gonzaga?

Evidently

A couple Pride legends were out of their prime as soon as they stepped in sanctioned fights

 

[Shabal]

Excellent question. I think Cro Cop had the more impressive and more devastating KO’s so I give it to him by a slight margin.

 

[Koro_11]

Mirko.

 

[Koro_11]

Evidently

A couple Pride legends were out of their prime as soon as they stepped in sanctioned fights

That’s funny since:

Big Nog
Shogun
Anderson
Rampage
Werdum

All came from Pride and took UFC titles.

NONE of them was ever the divisional champ in Pride, yet they strolled into the UFC and pimp slapped their champs and took their belts.

But hey, don’t let a silly thing like facts fuck up your narrative.

 

[HHJ]

This fucking guy

Whomst?

 

[ryun253]

Natty Overeem was mid, juiced Overeem was good

 

[NoBiasJustMMA]

I'm talking about their base. There is nothing Overeem does better striking than Cro Cop.

They're both glass jaws, talking about their fighting prowess

Overeem grew up in the Netherlands and he actually trained in kickboxing first and fought in kickboxing first. Cro Cop isn't chinny either.

 

[CrimsonFan]

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.

 

[drew209]

A lot of factors to decisively choose… big gloves or MMA gloves? Ring or cage? Rule set? Etc… I will say Reem was able to evolve along and showcase different versions of himself ( demolition man, Reem, UberReem, EcoReem, etc…)

 

[ermac88]

That’s funny since:

Big Nog
Shogun
Anderson
Rampage
Werdum

All came from Pride and took UFC titles.

NONE of them was ever the divisional champ in Pride, yet they strolled into the UFC and pimp slapped their champs and took their belts.

But hey, don’t let a silly thing like facts fuck up your narrative.

Relaaaax little buckaroo

"A couple Pride legends were out of their prime"

A COUPLE means two. Thats not discounting EVERYONE