Mirko Cro Cop The Croatian’s Last Stand

The Croatian’s Last Stand

According to www.vecernji.hr,  Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic is now finally fighting and training with an elite camp.  No more easy going coaches, no more relaxed sparring sessions, and all intensity from here on out.

http://www.vecernji.hr/sport/ostalo/cro-cop-eh-da-mi-je-bila-ova-pamet-kad-sam-imao-20-clanak-93514

This isn’t the first time Cro Cop promised this.  After one of the most shocking upsets by the way of a head kick of all things from Gabriel Gonzaga, Filipovic promised the fans that he would be a slacker no more.  From here on out, he would train hard, and this time in a cage.

That’s right this is one of numerous problems.  He didn’t think to train in a cage before his first UFC fight, until after he took a grappler’s foot to the face?  Now he is talking about training even more kick boxing, and that this will surely bring victory.  There’s no doubt that Cro Cop is receiving great training, that his training camp is intense, and that his hopes are soaring high this time around.

One might wonder though, why he hasn’t done some more thorough analysis of his performance and situation.  It’s generally agreed that the cage favors a wrestler.  Filipovic’s wrestling is limited to sprawls, and not much outside of that, and yet there is no word about clinch work against the cage, or bringing in world class grapplers to assist his training.  Even that would indicate a more drastic change in his methods.  Instead, the same promise as last time about his mentality being cleaned up, and the same story about training harder.  Not much else outside of that.

It’s my belief that this is the problem; he believes that the problem is simpler than it actually is.  However, I’m not saying he just needs to work some wrestling and he’s good to go.  Many others have questioned his motivation and willpower.

“There is something that broke in him and he is not the same fighter as he was before,tThis is evident on his style of fighting and on his look during the fight.”

Fedor Emelianenko, heavyweight king of the world, gives a candid analysis of his opponent from many years ago.  Something is broken?  There’s little one can glean from the stoic look of the Croatian, but it is very obvious that the aggressiveness is no longer there.  Years ago, I would have said that’s just what his permanent expression is.  Now, it really does look like indifference; a lack of hunger and will to be in the cage and to face another man.

This is all logic speaking, though.

As a fan that nearly broke down with Filipovic when he was crowned 2006 Pride’s Absolute GP, I find it all too hard to swallow.  This is the fighter that was once believed to be one of the deadliest in the world; a fighter so effective in his execution of the left high kick that his head kick become one of the most feared kicks in MMA.

He is 35, he has the resources, the experience, and the innate talent to take him to the very door of the championship.  Perhaps all he really needs is a reason to step through it.  After all, he even has the benefit of the doubt.

Mirko Filipovic will face Ben Rothwell this Saturday, February 17^th in Sydney, Australia.  Rothwell will be a game opponent, but realistically, Cro Cop can take him.   Even a slow, unmotivated Cro Cop will have the technical prowess to outmatch the ambling Rothwell, and that is the most reasonable prediction.  This will be a true barometer of things to come for the once deadly kick boxer – because he really should be able to dispatch Rothwell without a problem.  Another unimpressive win will most likely result in another embarrassing loss to a true contender, the loss of more fans, and another empty promise from one who had everything in his hands to be truly great.

By: Isaac Chung