Why no UFC title shot for Crocop?

[Warfist]

Shot, motherfuckers
Why no edit button for thread titles??? Ive been here for 10 goddamn years!

Anyways...

The Couture/Crocop thread got me thinkin..

Here we have 2 guys in the prime of their careers, kicking ass in Pride who eventually get signed by the UFC:

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic

Although neither were able to win a championship in PRIDE, Mirko DID win the OWGP which says alot.

Fast forward to Feb 3, 2007...,they both make their debut on the same night...and both are victorious in finishing their opponents.

So what happens next? Rampage gets a title shot but unfortunately for Crocop he doesnt get the same luck. Why? That is the question. Is there a back story that Im forgetting? We all know Couture won the HW title a month later. Was the UFC protecting their superhero from a Croation assasination? Or did Couture duck Mirko?

Looking back now its easy to say that history could have been alot different if Crocop was given a title shot. Why wouldnt the UFC want a younger, viscious, entertaining knockout artist as their world heavyweight champion? He would put asses in seats. Or does it somehow go beyond that? The ego of Dana White and company who couldnt handle seeing one of their boys lose to a PRIDE guy???

Ooohhhh so many questions. Its ashame that fight never happened. Would love to hear your opinions...although I may regret saying that.

 

[youreundrarrest]

CroCop would have faced Couture for the title, had he not gotten head-kicked into oblivion by good guy Gabe Gonzaga.

 

[LEWIS540]

Lost his #1 contenders match. Nothing else to say, really.

 

[L0ki]

Both guys are very cool.

CC didn't earn a shot via that stupid fucking upset year that was 2007.

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

Cos Gabe killed him

 

[WarKO]

Shot, motherfuckers
Why no edit button for thread titles??? Ive been here for 10 goddamn years!

Anyways...

The Couture/Crocop thread got me thinkin..

Here we have 2 guys in the prime of their careers, kicking ass in Pride who eventually get signed by the UFC:

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic

Although neither were able to win a championship in PRIDE, Mirko DID win the OWGP which says alot.

Fast forward to Feb 3, 2007...,they both make their debut on the same night...and both are victorious in finishing their opponents.

So what happens next? Rampage gets a title shot but unfortunately for Crocop he doesnt get the same luck. Why? That is the question. Is there a back story that Im forgetting? We all know Couture won the HW title a month later. Was the UFC protecting their superhero from a Croation assasination? Or did Couture duck Mirko?

Looking back now its easy to say that history could have been alot different if Crocop was given a title shot. Why wouldnt the UFC want a younger, viscious, entertaining knockout artist as their world heavyweight champion? He would put asses in seats. Or does it somehow go beyond that? The ego of Dana White and company who couldnt handle seeing one of their boys lose to a PRIDE guy???

Ooohhhh so many questions. Its ashame that fight never happened. Would love to hear your opinions...although I may regret saying that.

I just discussed this in another thread. UFC offered Cro Cop Randy right away, he refused saying he wanted 2-3 "tune up" fights

 

[theincognito]

He would have got one had he beat Gonzaga

There was a time when you had to win fights to get title shots and even popular champions like Chuck, Franklin, Hughes etc didn't get immediate rematches

 

[Kinniku]

Looks like nobody bothered to read your post, TS. You make very valid points: Rampage beats a journeyman and gets to fight The Iceman, Crocop should have fought Couture after beating Eddie Sanchez, who was undefeated at that time. Without doubt a better win than Marvin Eastman.

 

[WouldNotBang]

I just discussed this in another thread. UFC offered Cro Cop Randy right away, he refused saying he wanted 2-3 "tune up" fights

Well....that was a dumb as fuck decision.

 

[WarKO]

Well....that was a dumb as fuck decision.

he wanted to get used to the cage an diff rules...although that didn't make sense either as he still trained in a ring for a long time.

Elbows on ground weren't allowed in Pride, major reason GG won.

 

[WouldNotBang]

he wanted to get used to the cage an diff rules...although that didn't make sense either as he still trained in a ring for a long time.

Elbows on ground weren't allowed in Pride, major reason GG won.

I know!! Which makes the rematch finish all the more interesting.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Looks like nobody bothered to read your post, TS. You make very valid points: Rampage beats a journeyman and gets to fight The Iceman, Crocop should have fought Couture after beating Eddie Sanchez, who was undefeated at that time. Without doubt a better win than Marvin Eastman.

I think you are forgetting the fact that Rampage had a win over Chuck Lidell in Pride. Holding a win over the current champion goes a long way toward deserving a title shot.

 

[WarKO]

I know!! Which makes the rematch finish all the more interesting.

well he adapted. GG tried to do the same thing basically. It's pretty impressive CC avenged the loss 7 years later when he was even slower, more damaged and in worse shape.

 

[MMAEXP3RT]

They offered him Randy but he turned him down because he knew UFC's heavyweight division was superior to Pride's.

 

[theincognito]

Looks like nobody bothered to read your post, TS. You make very valid points: Rampage beats a journeyman and gets to fight The Iceman, Crocop should have fought Couture after beating Eddie Sanchez, who was undefeated at that time. Without doubt a better win than Marvin Eastman.

I remember Rampage wanted more fights prior to a title shot to get used to the octagon or something like that. They rushed him probably because they felt it would be better for Chuck, who was their golden boy.

On the other hand they were actually giving Cro Cop time to adjust to the cage, which he had never fought in at all, and were trying to build him up to the US audience because he was predicted to be the next champ.

 

[WouldNotBang]

They offered him Randy but he turned him down because he knew UFC's heavyweight division was superior to Pride's.

 

[Concrete Whale]

 

[SavageAngel]

Wow, so many posters not understading TS at all. Crocop got knocked out by Gonzaga in his SECOND UFC fight. The first one he won by first round KO. To answer your question TS, i don't know why. Either it was Crocop who asked for another tune up fight, or Couture wasn't ready to fight. I remember Couture saying something like "crocop has the shot if he wants it".

 

[Koro_11]

Looks like nobody bothered to read your post, TS. You make very valid points: Rampage beats a journeyman and gets to fight The Iceman, Crocop should have fought Couture after beating Eddie Sanchez, who was undefeated at that time. Without doubt a better win than Marvin Eastman.

This.

The first half dozen people all chimed in like a bunch of muppets "ummm, cause Gonzaga bro".

Did any of them even bother reading the TS?

Anderson got a title shot by beating Leben, even though he was never a champ in Pride.

Rampage got a title shot by beating Eastman, even though he was never a champ in Pride.

Mirko was the GP champ nd easily won his tune up fight... Couture was the fight to make.

 

[SavageAngel]

I remember Rampage wanted more fights prior to a title shot to get used to the octagon or something like that. They rushed him probably because they felt it would be better for Chuck, who was their golden boy.

On the other hand they were actually giving Cro Cop time to adjust to the cage, which he had never fought in at all, and were trying to build him up to the US audience because he was predicted to be the next champ.

I think this is the most sensible answer.