Photo: CroatianSports.com
The “Croatian Crippler” Mike Rožić caught up with undefeated UFC Heavyweight Stipe Miocic prior to his departure to the United Kingdom this past week. Miocic and Rožić chatted about several things including his up coming bout versus the “Skyscraper” Stefan Struve this Saturday night. Miocic vs Struve is the main event of the UFC on Fuel TV 5 card being held in Nottingham, England.
This will be Miocic’s first fight in the UFC as the main event and Struve is his toughest opponent to date. The undefeated Croatian fighter arrived in the UK Monday and assured the Crippler he arrived safely via text. The Croatian Crippler’s first question to Miocic was whether or not he had met David Beckham or the Spice Girls yet and Stipe responded with a verse of a Spice Girls song.
All joking aside, Struve is a big obstacle for Miocic to say the least. The Skyscraper stands at 6 foot 11 inches and is a very well-rounded fighter who is proficient in all aspects of MMA. Miocic should have the advantage in the stand-up and wrestling but Struve is a very good submission artist and has a huge reach advantage. Saturday night, we will see if Stipe Miocic can keep his undefeated streak alive and continue his rise to the top of the UFC heavyweight division.
Exclusive interview with Stipe Miocic prior to UFC on Fuel 5
This past Saturday night at UFC 152, Croatian light heavyweight Igor Pokrajac had his three-fight win streak snapped by Brazilian Vinny Magalhaes. Pokrajac was submitted by the BJJ expert in the second round after he initiated the takedown and brought the fight right where Magalhaes wanted it. Magalhaes had a triangle choke locked up before even hitting the mat and smoothly transitioned into the arm bar for the win. The Croatian fighter will have many sleepless nights wondering why he initiated the takedown and didn’t just keep the fight standing, where he was head and shoulders above the Brazilian. Pokrajac’s frustration showed as he tweeted this Saturday night following the bout.
“If I wanted to do a grappling match I would go on a grappling tournament , this is MMA and UFC fans want a fight # UFC 152”
I understand that Igor is upset but tweeting that makes no sense to me at all. Pokrajac is the one that took down Magalhaes and initiated the grappling match with probably the best BJJ guy in MMA. Second, this is MMA where you need to be good wherever the fight goes, including grappling. I understand where Igor is coming from, talking with him prior to this fight. Pokrajac wanted the fans to see an exciting stand up fight and possible candidate for ‘fight of the night’ but Magalhaes is not a stand up fighter and obviously wanted the fight on the mat.
It was revealed Saturday night that Vinny might have had a little help in his corner during the match with Pokrajac. Apparently his trainer Ray Sefo was in the same training room as Igor prepared his game plan for the fight. Sefo was asked if he would be in Magalhaes’ corner and he responded that he wasn’t helping Vinny for this fight and was in there assisting Evan Dunham only. It turns out Sefo was in Magalhaes’ corner for the fight and more than likely revealed Pokrajac’s game plan to Magalhaes. This is a pretty dirty tactic and the UFC should do some investigating into it. The fighters purposely have separate training rooms as to keep their fight plans secret prior to the fight. Either way, this is a loss for Pokrajac and hopefully he can come back stronger then ever in his next bout and start a new streak.
Perosh Update
It was announced today that Australian-born Croatian Anthony Perosh will return to the octagon to face Joey “ The Mexicutioner” Beltran. You may remember Beltran as being Miocic’s first opponent when he entered the UFC as he used to compete as a heavyweight. The fight will take place on December 15th at the UFC on FX 6 card held in Gold Coast, Australia.
Interview & article written By Mike “Croatian Crippler” Rozic
You can follow me on Twitter @ Crocrippler or on Facebook @ Croatian Crippler.
@ToCro
Yes the same Sefo
@Allen Steven
Dont think Werdum would tear him apart at all. it would be a good bout.
Also if you guys watched the fight last night. Stipe took the first rd . In the second before the stoppage he got poked in the eye and then slipped which led to him getting tagged. Whether or not it would of changed the outcome or not who knows. I still believe in Miocic and think he will come back stronger and rise to the top.
Werdum would tear Struve apart. Struve doesn’t know how to use his reach properly and Stipe seems was undersized. Even guys like Carwin and Mir would pick Struve apart. He’s not the real deal to me until he beats a big name.
@ Crippler
I’m guessing it’s the same Sefo that Cro Cop beat up that spied on Pokrajac???
Stipe will learn from this and come back stronger!
You guys forget this is only Miocic’s 4th fight in the UFC. He has a lot of time to improve. Struve prove tonight he is the real deal. @Allan I don’t know how you think Struve will get destroyed by a big name heavyweight just name one for me?
I told you a guy from Cleveland couldn’t win when it mattered. Happens all the time. That town is jinxed.
Hopefully he is a better firefighter than an organized backyard after school fight club participant,
Stipe’s cardio was awful. He looked great in the first round, really landed some solid shots but wow didn’t expect him to tire out that bad. No excuses and nobody can defend that was a poor display by Stipe. Struve couldn’t even use his size properly at times. Very let down by the result because Stipe really looked good but to tire out like that is pretty lame.
Struve is probably going to fight a big time heavyweight now and probably get destroyed. Struve still isn’t that great, doesn’t know how to use his reach properly.
Ajmo Miocic, za dom spremni brate!
You have to be an elite fighter to win a title. Don’t think that will happen but he’s going to be a force to be reckon with.
Its main event time, LOVE THE THEME STIPE! Points Of Authority by Linkin Park excellent choice.
I just saw a nice video about Miocic. Dude is from Cleveland, which means he will never win the title. Just take a look at Cleveland’s sports history and that is all you need to know.
@ Croatian Crippler – Good Stuff! best of luck to Stipe!
Can you bet on organized afterschool backyard fight club?
For my comments about Igor, if they offended you I’m sorry. Its just I never heard of anything like that of accusing someone based off coaching. Just seems like a lame excuse to cover up his short comings.
Let’s move on from Igor and support a possible star on the horizon. A win over Struve will do wonders for Stipe. Possibly a dream fight vs Frank Mir if he wins! Honestly hope that doesn’t happen because Mir is my all time favorite heavyweight and I’ll be stuck. Hope Miocic fights someone like Kongo and knocks his face off or even Big Country Nelson although I don’t hate him anymore. He’s still a goofball.
Can’t wait to see Stpe fight on the weekend.
He looks like a real contender.
He is the most impressive Cro fighter we currently have, Igor and Goran are good fighters and Mirko is well past his prime.
Good luck Stipe!!!!
I met stipe miocic saturday in willoughby ohio hes a good guy
no need to call pokrajac a clown. the guy has won several mma fights. he gives interviews with cs. i can understand if you don’t agree with his tweet or his fight strategy, but i think some appreciation should be shown for the guy. or at least some respect for what he’s done/ is doing
Ok Boys and Girls let me clear a few things up for you guys. They give the fighters a room with mats,bags etcc… to train, cut weight or whatever days leading up to the fight. They have two seperate rooms one for the A side fighters and the other for B side. This is done so the fighters opponent or training partners are not in the same room watching them talk or work their gameplan.More on game plan after this.
What happen was Ray Sefo was training Evan Dunham also who was in the same room as Igor. Igor’s team asked Sefo if he was still training Magalhaes and Sefo responded that he wasn’t and was just training Dunham. Next thing you know Sefo is in the corner of Magalhaes for the fight. So basically he lied about and basically showed guilt.Would it of changed the outcome who knows?
Now onto gameplans in MMA. There is huge effort and money put into a gameplan for fighters. Trainers will watch tape after tape of opponents fight footage and look for weaknesses and then try to exploit that. So for example if Igor intended to use a left hook because they noticed Vinny constantly drops his right hand. If Vinny was made aware of this prior to the fight don’t you think he would now avoid this?
So, let me get this straight…..in organized afterschool backyard fight club, the coach/trainer/advisor/volunteer jock sniffer of one fighter can be in the same locker room with his opponent leading up to their battle…
Incredible……and who knew there were tactics involved in this activity?
There is only room for one snarky douche and that douche is Ziva Istina.
@Mark:
Agreeing with someone and looking up to someone are two different things. He is a like minded contemporary who happens to write with a sharper pen.
I have disagreed with him on multiple occasions and it is my opinion that MMA is a sport albeit one that I am only interested in when a Croat is involved.
@Allen:
People lose at sporting events. It does not make them an “absolute clown” or a “dummy”.
Perhaps it is semantics, but saying that he was naive, impatient, reckless or foolish in the match would probably be more appropriate.
Thanks. Yeah, I’ve never heard of spying being a prevalent in MMA, although I’m sure it happens in all sports. People will do anything to gain an advantage on their opponents. I wouldn’t be surprised if that dude was spying on Igor. But you still gotta blame him for his loss. No excuses.
Great post Mark couldn’t agree more. It’s my opinion on who I want to call a clown. I don’t care if he’s Croatian or Serbian or Russian. If I see something absurd that baffles me, I’m calling the person out it. Igor making claims about spying is the first time I’ve ever anything to do with spying on.
I would NEVER allow someone associated with my opponent to be in my locker room while preparing for a fight. That’s a terrible call on Igor AND whoever his managing personnel is. But spying or not, Igor took him down like an idiot and handed himself to him on a silver platter. He has himself to blame and no one else.
@ Jack
Ziva has a tendency to be redundant with his descriptions, e.g., serbo-turbo, puppet-suker, and backyard organized fight, just to name a few. By using these ‘clever’ negative descriptions he creates a sense of machismo, which guides the weak reader to look up to him. Don’t be a sheep.
MMA may seem barbaric and brutal to many, especially those not familiar with it, but it’s just as much of a sport as any other we watch on a daily basis. Although, it’s a shame the majority who participate and run it are total douches.
Yes, one could call it an organized backyard brawl or whatever. But one could also say the same about hockey being an organized iced pond melee, or football being an organized gladiator fight, or golf being an organized wealthy man’s way to pass the time. You get my point. They’re all real sports.
@Allen:
Is it a sport, or isn’t it? I thought sports used tactics and strategies.
Perhaps I am wrong and MMA is not a sport.
I didn’t say it was crooked. I intimated that the opposing fighter’s staff obtained an advantage in an unfair way.
Calling him a clown is uncalled for. It actually makes you sound like a huge douche.
Spying really? You think that they were actually spying? How about its called Igor game planned wrong. This is fighting, not football where their actual plays.
Believe what you want but I always find it comical when soccer fans call out other sports for being crooked when we know damn well that soccer is the most corrupted sport in the world. That’s the thing that makes me chuckle. Its not being negative or whatever negative nelly garbage you want to call me, it’s called facts.
@Allen:
You are slipping back into your old ways of being a negative Nelly.
I don’t care for MMA, but it sounds like he made a mistake and the “spying on opponents” makes me dislike the “sport” even more.
Ziva is right, only backyard organized fight club would allow nonsense like that during prefight training.
Igor is an absolute clown. Its called mixed martial arts for a reason dummy. I could honestly care less what he does at this point, he’ll probably be in prelim hell forever.
Pulling hard for Stipe this weekend, I have major hopes for him.