Tag: Mirko Cro Cop

2011: Year of the Heavyweight

Filed under: UFC, StrikeforceIf 2011 goes as planned, we’ll see more good, competitive, high-level mixed martial arts fights than we’ve ever seen in any year of the sport’s existence.

Strikeforce’s eight-man heavyweight tournament was getting all the …

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If 2011 goes as planned, we’ll see more good, competitive, high-level mixed martial arts fights than we’ve ever seen in any year of the sport’s existence.

Strikeforce’s eight-man heavyweight tournament was getting all the headlines last week, but the UFC did a nice job of bouncing back with the news that Brock Lesnar and Junior dos Santos will coach the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, that Shane Carwin expects to return in June, and that Frank Mir vs. Roy Nelson and Stefan Struve vs. Travis Browne are slated for May.

Assuming a best-case scenario for both promotions, we’ll have good heavyweight fights from Strikeforce, the UFC or both every month for the next 10 months or so, culminating with the return of Cain Velasquez and the Strikeforce tournament final toward the end of the year. Remember, I started this with an “If”: Looking ahead to fights that we hope to see in the future is always risky business. But below we’ll look at the fights that will make this the year of the heavyweight.

CroCop Looking Forward to Success in 2011, Sketchy Subtitles Allege

(Props: YouTube/10CroCop)
As has been noted on this website in the past, we can only assume that it is really, really hard for anyone – even actual Croatians – to find Croatian-to-English interpreters. Either that, or whoever is doing it f…

(Props: YouTube/10CroCop)

As has been noted on this website in the past, we can only assume that it is really, really hard for anyone – even actual Croatians – to find Croatian-to-English interpreters. Either that, or whoever is doing it for www.CroCop.info is just totally half-assing it. As you can see with your own two eyes, the “English” subtitles on the above video only make “sense” in a highly impressionistic, inexplicit kind of a way. If the translation can be trusted at all, it purports to be a local news report about our guy Mirko, where he insists that he is healthy headed into 2011 and “can hardly wait” to see some kind of the positive return on the “investments” (we assume he’s talking physical and financial here) that he’s made in training.

Also, we’re not sure if we should just laugh or be kind of legitimately mad about the 20 second span from the 52-second mark to 1:12 when the subtitles drop off entirely and the words “About Croatian Politics” appear on the screen in red type. Look, are we interested in Croatian politics? Hell no, but we’d like the opportunity to make the decision for ourselves. We don’t need CroCop being our Jack Valenti, but it’s whatever, on to the fighting stuff.

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That Settles It: Cheick Kongo Is the Dirtiest Fighter in the UFC

(One of the few moments on Saturday when Travis Browne wasn’t in danger of getting his nuts demolished. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)
Though many UFC fighters have gotten bad reputations for everything from eye-poking to greasing, nobody’s as co…

Cheick Kongo Travis Browne UFC 120
(One of the few moments on Saturday when Travis Browne wasn’t in danger of getting his nuts demolished. Photo courtesy of MMAFighting.com)

Though many UFC fighters have gotten bad reputations for everything from eye-poking to greasing, nobody’s as consistently rotten as heavyweight Cheick Kongo, who put on another notorious performance against Travis Browne at UFC 120. Kongo started things off in the second round by launching his trademark strike — a knee to the balls, straight up the middle — and wound up costing himself the victory in the third frame when he continued to grab Browne’s shorts despite warnings from the ref; the resulting point-deduction led to a unanimous 28-28 judges’ decision. At this point, it’s pretty much indisputable that Kongo is the dirtiest fighter currently on the UFC roster. Who could forget his other career highlights…

vs. Paul Buentello at UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones: After being warned by Herb Dean for shots to the back of the head and 12-to-6 elbows in the second round, Kongo is finally deducted a point for kneeing Buentello in the head while Buentello was down. Later in the round, Kongo connects with another knee to his downed opponent’s dome, though Dean brushes it off, saying Buentello was trying to draw the foul. 

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UFC 119 Post-Fight Drug Tests Come Back Clean

Filed under: UFC, NewsThe post-fight drug tests for last month’s UFC 119 card in Indianapolis have come back clean.

A total of nine fighters were tested following their Sept. 25 bouts at Conseco Fieldhouse, and all nine tested negative for both illeg…

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The post-fight drug tests for last month’s UFC 119 card in Indianapolis have come back clean.

A total of nine fighters were tested following their Sept. 25 bouts at Conseco Fieldhouse, and all nine tested negative for both illegal drugs of abuse and anabolic steroids. MMA Fighting was given the results Tuesday by Andrew Means, director of the athletic division of the Indiana Gaming Commission.

Mirko Cro Cop Explains Bizarre Mid-Fight Conversation With Frank Mir at UFC 119

("I took many lessons from this fight. For example, not all Americans are as affectionate as Pat Barry.")
If you were one of the poor bastards who suffered through UFC 119’s woeful main event, you may have noticed Mirko "Cro Cop" …

Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic UFC 119
("I took many lessons from this fight. For example, not all Americans are as affectionate as Pat Barry.")

If you were one of the poor bastards who suffered through UFC 119‘s woeful main event, you may have noticed Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic and Frank Mir having a little chat in the third round. Mid-fight trash talk, perhaps? A friendly "is that all you got, bitch?" maybe, or the ever-reliable "you ain’t shit"? Not exactly. As Cro Cop explained to Index.hr (translated by Fighters Only), he was asking if Mir would be kind enough to let go of their clinch so they could stand and bang. The exchange basically went like this:

Cro Cop: Let me go, let’s go to the center and fight.
Mir: Let’s go to the mat.
Cro Cop: OK — if I’m on top.
Mir: We’ll stay in the clinch.

Eventually the ref broke them up and Cro Cop got his wish, even though he was knocked out by a knee to the jaw shortly after. Filipovic now joins the super-exclusive club of whacked-out MMA fighters who try to negotiate better positions during a fight, only to be refused by their opponents and then lose in humiliating fashion. At this point, the only other member of that club is Paulo Filho.

After returning to Croatia, Filipovic did another interview in which he flagrantly violated a recent CagePotato Ban — bad Mirko! — and assured everyone that he’ll be returning to the UFC. Twice, in fact…

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UFC 119 Live Blog: Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop Updates

Filed under: UFCINDIANAPOLIS — This is the UFC 119 live blog for Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop, the main event of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the Conseco Field House.

Mir looks to bounce back from a loss to Shane Carwin against the PRIDE legend Cr…

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INDIANAPOLIS — This is the UFC 119 live blog for Frank Mir vs. Mirko Cro Cop, the main event of tonight’s UFC pay-per-view from the Conseco Field House.

Mir looks to bounce back from a loss to Shane Carwin against the PRIDE legend Cro Cop. Cro Cop accepted this fight on five weeks’ notice in place of Mir’s original opponent, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

The live blog is below.