boney

"Mirko Cro Cop has made it very clear he's unhappy with his early performances in the UFC. He really wants to make up for that and in doing that and coming back to the UFC... taking on a young, hungry lion like Junior Dos Santos; he's taking a very big chance. Mirko is a huge name in mixed martial arts. One of the biggest international names. Worldwide recognized as a top striker, top mixed martial arts fighter and fought some of the very best fighters in the world. You name it, he's fought some of the toughest guys in PRIDE. In taking this really tough fight against a relatively unknown but super dangerous Junior Dos Santos... he's letting everyone know he's willing to step in there and take big chances to re-establish himself as one of the top heavyweights in the game. If he gets past Junior Dos Santos, he's letting everyone know Mirko Cro Cop is back and a legitimate threat to the UFC heavyweight championship."

-UFC color commentator Joe Rogan talks about the rejuvenation of Mirko Cro Cop and the willingness of the former PRIDE and K-1 champion to re-establish himself as the best mixed martial artist in the UFC. Cro Cop is now 2-2 in the UFC with wins over Eddie Sanchez and Mustapha al Turk, and losses to Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo.

After defeating al Turk, it was unclear if Cro Cop would be back in the Octagon again, however, on July 3, it was reported that he had re-signed with the UFC after getting an offer "he couldn't refuse" by UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta. Fertitta flew to Filipovic's residence in Zagreb and offered Cro Cop a three-fight contract that he later agreed to.

Cro Cop is currently ranked the #10 heavyweight fighter in the world by FiveKnuckles.com, but should he defeat Dos Santos, he will likely move closer to that #1 position.

M.C

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news...os-Santos.html

Make sure to add the link.

Cro Cop will beat Dos, count on it.

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BWoods

Writing from work on the phone, so please excuse any spelling/grammatical errors.

When this fight was announced I will admit I had never heard of Junior dos Santos. I just figured he was one of the many blank faces in the UFC heavyweight division who were mere cannon fodder for guys moving up the ranks. But when I took a look at his last two fights I realized this guy's potential. He threw the perfect uppercut vs Werdum and just mauled Stephen Struve as if a 7 foot tall man was just a punk teenager.

He presents a HUGE danger to CroCop in terms of power, but his ground game (as far as I know) is kind of a question mark. Of course being part of the Nougeria camp, you can't diascount that he has a solid defense on the ground. The only thing I can really say about him in a negative sense is that he appears to be a little sloppy with his strikes.

Junior dos Santos is surprisingly quick and can pounce quickly. I'm not even going to mention his strength because you don't even need eyes to tell how powerful this dude is. I think behind Carwin and Gonzaga, he may have the third most brute strenght in his strikes among the UFC's heavyweights.

But I don't believe he will beat Crocop. That is, of course, if Mirko is truly prepaired for the octogon this time.

We've heard over and over about how Crocop is focused now and how he is ready for the UFC but he has never looked comfortable in the cage. He always seems to be trying to find his spacing and just seems afraid to really fire off a good shot. Probably because he knows he can't pull a Rocky Balboa and bounce himself off the ropes. Instead he'll hit the cage and get trapped.

Now here's a crazy idea that might work in Crocop's favor. He might consider taking this fight to the ground. He may want to catch dos Santos sleeping and put him on his back. Play the levels game and keep Junior guessing. Then set up the strikes from there. Fake a shoot and throw a high kick. Its a really bizzare stratigy for Crocop to employ, that's whý it could work.

If I were Mirko I wouldn't chance it on the feet honestly. Even if Junior is sloppy with his striking, I can't really say standing and trading with him is a good idea if your aren't comfortable in a cage. Now if Mirko has worked on circling off the cage and putting combos together, instead of the one-strike festival which was the fight with Al-Turk, he should take the fight on the feet with ease.

Regardless of what happens between now and fight night, we're all going to keep wondering which Crocop will show up at 103. The #1/2 heavyweight Pride Crocop, or the unranked and insignificant Mirko Crocop of the UFC.

VolcomX311

Here's hoping

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CERTIFIED STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH - NSCA CSCS

6toes

Pullin for Cro-Cop on this one, Santos is no slouch though so I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he KO's Mirko.

VolcomX311

After that Gonzaga debacle, nothing would surprise me in terms of a potential KO. I'm hoping Mirco takes Nog's lead and comes in looking like an ex PRIDE fighter, not fresh off the Indian Casino leagues.

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CERTIFIED STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH - NSCA CSCS

alizio

Dos Santos by brutal KO in the 1st due to strikes.

Also, im pretty sure he is a purple belt under Minotauro so i wouldnt think he is a complete slouch on his back, but obv not where he wants to be, i wouldnt be surprised if a big shot of his lead him to winning via GNP, as i dont have much confidence in CCs ground defense atm

VolcomX311

As a CC fan, me either.

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CERTIFIED STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH - NSCA CSCS

steveo412

It hurts me to say it, but I can only see Dos winning this fight by KO. I just cant see Cop winning as much as I want him to destroy him and then go kill Lesnar.

VolcomX311

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CERTIFIED STRENGTH & CONDITIONING COACH - NSCA CSCS