Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović (27-9-2, 4-5 UFC) will take on Roy “Big Country” Nelson (15-6, 2-2 UFC) this Saturday in Las Vegas, Nevada at UFC 137.
Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipović
Strengths: K1 level striking, Great take down defense and Experience.
Weaknesses: Age, Susceptible to knock out, Unwillingness to pull the trigger, and the mental game.
Notable Wins: Josh Barnett x3, Igor Vovchanchyn, Pat Barry, Wanderlei Silva, Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, and Aleksander Emelianenko.
Cro Cop is coming off of two consecutive knock out losses to Frank Mir and Brendan Schaub respectively. Mirko has never lost three fights in a row during his illustrious career but this is a different fighter. Filipović has had a lingering knee injury for most of his UFC career and according to him it is now 100 percent healed. Cro Cop trained with Pat Barry for this bout and he seems to be in good spirits leading up to this fight. At one time his stand-up was the single most intimidating weapon in the game, headlined by his left high kick. The main question is whether Mirko has enough left in the tank to take out the durable and talented Roy “Big Country” Nelson.
“I Want to Return to the Old Cro Cop or Die Trying”
~Mirko Filipović to MMA Fighting.com
Roy “Big Country” Nelson
Strengths: Good Submission Game, Size, Clinch Game, Chin Durability and KO Power in his Overhand Right.
Weaknesses: Limited Striking, Conditioning, Lack of Motivation.
Notable Wins: Stefan Struve, Brendan Schaub, Brad Imes.
Roy “Big Country” Nelson like Cro Cop, is coming off of two consecutive losses to Junior Dos Santos and Frank Mir respectively. Nelson in this fight is looking to remind people why he won season ten of the Ultimate Fighter and keep his career alive in the UFC. Big Country apparently is in better shape leading up to this fight than he was against Frank Mir. The Ultimate Fighter winner has very good submission skills, good in the clinch and has good power in his right hand. Nelson will be a tough opponent for Filipović on Saturday night.
Cro Cop talks about his upcoming fight
Croatian Crippler’s UFC 137 Prediction
I want to believe Mirko has one more highlight reel knockout left in his bag of tricks but every time he fights, I find myself waiting for the Cro Cop of old to appear. To date in the UFC that hasn’t happened. Filipovic seems like a shell of his old self and it makes me wonder if mentally he still wants the victory bad enough. Nelson has looked sluggish in his last two outings but he still possesses all the tools to dispatch of this modern day Cro Cop within two rounds. If this was 2006 there would be no question in my mind who the victor of this fight would be. This could be the last time we see the legend Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s step into the Octagon.
I know the chances of this outcome happening are slim to none but for old times’ sake I predict Cro Cop by Left High Kick KO in the second round.
Now it’s time for the readers of CroatianSports.com to make your predictions for the Mirko Filipović vs. Roy Nelson fight.
~Mike “Croatian Crippler” Rožić
actually I have participated in athletics in my life. That is why I never paid attention to the outside noise and was able to focus on the game only.
Do listen to some of you guys, you make it seem a team is at some disadvantage if its coaches or players do some talking before a game. That is not the case.
Never said I knew what the English were thinking, but I know what our guys are thinking going into games.
So what if it made their victory sweeter. I could care less how they felt. Games are won on the pitch, not by what coaches and players say before the game.
@Shinobi,
you’ve forgotten that Mr. Istina knows all. Obviously, he’s never participated in any athletics in his life, but he knows important people that do. Some might call that airtight alibi.
Congratulations to Mirko on an amazing career!
@Ziva istina
I know the reason we lost to england was that they were better, and they wouldve won with or without those comments made by bilic.
But i also believe it made their victory all the sweeter, when they did win. And probably that they were more determined, and focused to get a resounding win when those comments were made.
You cant have known what the english and capello were thinking before and after that game. Could you? mentallo
@Michael
I almost forgot.
You said ” Also, Pride had a lot more restrictions for being on the ground, thus most of the fight was on his feet, and not on his back.”
Your kidding right? i think you got that mixed up, UFC prefered the fighters on their feet, they are the ones if they stayed on the ground for to long, they would stand them up, undoing the grapplers game plan.
Where as pride would allow the fighters to work their ground game. And even when there was a stoppage, pride refs would re-position the fighters to exactly where they were, so that it wouldnt’ undo the fighters takedown or positional advantage the might have had.
One of the many reasons i prefered pride rules over the UFC.
my point exactly, i watch soccer for the action, not the talk of what is said or not said.
Actually I do know what is going on in the players and coaches head. Without naming any names, I have a very good idea of what is said and not said when the national team gets together.
That is why i don’t care what a coach or player says. Do i prefer to them to be silent, sure. But, I also like hearing crazy comments as well.
The reason we lost to England is not because of what Bilic said or did not say. They were better and more talented. The reason we beat England previously is because we were better and more talented thanks mostly to a bunch of their best players were out injured.
@Ziva istina
ive heard this all before from you.
How can you convincingly say that its never had an effect on the outcome of the game? Do you know whats going through the players and coachs heads, do you? Come on man, really?
But i did say even if it had no bearing on the outcome, why would you even risk making an ass-clown of yourself, after making such comments and then blow up in your face. Its better to win first, then tell the world “we won, because we are better” instead of premature cockyness.
Who cares about that it makes the press conference more interesting. I watch football for the football, not the pre match talk.
@Michael
I seriously believe havent a clue about the fight game, after reading your post.
you said “in Pride, and generally they were a lot weaker competition”.
PrideFC was the superior brand of the two in that time period. Also the fighters were superior also, back then the fighters that came from UFC lost to the pride fighters. eg:(Chuck Liddell Lost to Quinton Jackson at pride)
You also said ” Sure, he had some impressive wins, vs Randelman, Silva, Herring, Barnett and A.Emelianko. But if you look at the rest, they were not really top level caliber.”
You forgot, Kazushi sakuraba, one of the greatest and innovative mixed martial artists of all time who has beaten the likes of carlos newton, vitor belfort, just about every gracie out there, quinton jackson, kevin randelman, ken shamrock and many others. So i wouldnt say he is not really top level.
What about igor Vovchanchyn? one of the most feared strikers of his time, his record speaks for itself, 66 fights, 55 wins, 29 by KO, 17 submission, that man was ice cold man, his name alone would send chills down the spines of his opponents. Not saying he was top level would be ignorant.
What about Hidehiko Yoshida? an olympic gold medalist in judo, and a man who has beaten the likes of Don Frye, Masaaki Satake, Tank Abbott, Maurice Smith, and the great Royce Gracie. So calling him not top level is ignorant also.
What about Mark “the hammer” Coleman? that name alone spells legend. UFC 10 winner, UFC 11 winner, inaugural UFC heavyweight champion, nuff said. Calling him not top level is totally uninformed in MMA.
I could go on, some of those japanese fighters you may not of heard of, are acually legends in japan like Nobuhiko Takada, and Minowman Minowa. They may not have the records like some others, but they are still regarded and respected fighters and are still better quality than some of the chumps Mirko fought in the UFC, ala eddie sanchez.
So before you try to downgrade prideFC’s fighters and Cro-Cop’s achievements, maybe you should do some research on pride’s history and view some of the fights they had on offer in those days, before you make an un-educated guess.
I just read that Cro Cop retired from UFC last night…….funny, because I thought Cro Cop had retired 3 years ago, or the UFC fighters have been retiring Cro Cop for the last three.
@Shinobi……England’s win in ZG had nothing to do with Bilic’s comments. The better team won that day. I have never seen a bulletin board comments win or lose a game. For every game that takes place where a guy who opened his mouth screwed up, I can think of 5 where the guy who opened up his mouth backed his words.
@shinobi………There is a reason press conferences are garbage. 90% are boring and offer nothing. I applaud the coaches and players who come out and say something out of the ordinary. “My team is better and will win”…….those type of comments have no influence on a agme. it’s only after when the opposing team wins they will come out and say that played a role. But, they never come out and say it played a role when they lose. From a neutral perspective, give me a coach who runs his mouth like Mourinho and makes things interesting than a boring coach.
I have to disagree with you Michael. CroCop fought mainly heavier competition. He was a tiny HW, just like Fedor, and for the most part he fought heavier competition: Sapp, Hunt, Emelianenko (A), Barnett, etc. were all much heavier than he was. Even Wanderlei Silva was heavier than him in the OWGP.
I think CC had a lot of excuses for losing throughout the years: Nose being broken, knee problems, not training in cage, etc. etc. I think those were put into place to protect his ego, as he had a fragile mind.
He never really had the warrior spirit, where he could fight to the finishing bell. If he was losing he would crumble (ex: Overeem, Fedor), and it was seen last night as well.
I like to think of Mirko’s Filipovic’s UFC days the same way I think of Michael Jordan’s Washington Wizards days…
it never happened.
@CroatianCrippler – Sure, he had some impressive wins, vs Randelman, Silva, Herring, Barnett and A.Emelianko. But if you look at the rest, they were not really top level caliber. I guess you could include Alberto Del Rio into that list. (I still find that funny)
He had the advantage of being about 20lbs heavier than the bulk of his opponents in Pride, and generally they were a lot weaker competition. When he came to UFC, he wasn’t used to being in a cage (he admitted to not training in a cage for his fights vs Kongo, Gonzaga), and being a small heavyweight. He was now giving up 20-30lbs per fight, and guys were pushing him back. Also, Pride had a lot more restrictions for being on the ground, thus most of the fight was on his feet, and not on his back. I really wonder how he would’ve done at 205….he would’ve been back in his element, much bigger than his opponents, with that “fear” being put back in.
Penn retired last night as well, so it was the end of two legends. I just believe Mirko should’ve retired awhile ago.
Ai jave a disertation to write about this. When im sober ull understand why the ufc is a joke and mirko is a boss
Nothing surprising about the result. Its a shame he didnt finish when he had chance. And thats the bad thing about it, if you dont finish, you expel all that energy, and your basiclly spent. And thats exactly what happened, nelson just used his belly to great effect and smothered cro-cop. In the third he went into retreat mode, and when nelson dropped him and flattened him out with his hooks, it looked as if cro cop just gave up, even before the ref put a stop to it from those shots to the side of his head from mr. country nelson.
Conclusion: All things must come to an end. And there comes a time in every athletes life where they reach the twilight of their careers and succumb to age. And mirko just like every other athlete is not immune to this. Had a stellar prideFC run, not so stellar at UFC, but nevertheless had a wonderful MMA career all in all, beating some of the great mixed martial artists along the way, and the winnining the 2006 openweight grand prix was his greatest moment, and it is something no one can take away from him.
Nelson made a huge mistake that almost cost him the fight, but CC couldn’t finish it. It’s time for retirement, even that LHK didn’t phase Nelson.
What a main event though. Beautiful display of boxing. So happy I stayed awake for this one. Can’t wait for the title fight.
Unfortunately Crocop lost he fought not bad but lost in the third round to ref stoppage. Fight summary to follow soon.
@Michael
I don’t think he was fighting only nobody’s in Japan. He fought a lot of tin cans but he also beat a lot of top guys>
Okay Mirko now you can go back to fighting nobodies in Japan.
@Ziva Istina
It certainly looked like it had an impact when bilic opened his mouth and trashed talked the whole english squad before the game in zagreb for the 2010 world cup qualifiers. It looked like that gave england some extra incentive to proove bilic wrong.
Football is an emotional game, and sometimes trash talk from the opposition, can just fuel and focus you that little bit more. Or it can sometimes have the opposite effect, and put you off your game. It varies from person to person on how it effects you.
Trash talk is definitely a tactic some coaches or fighters use, it may work for you but it can also backfire. But even if it had no bearing on the outcome, Ziva, wouldnt it leave you redfaced and looking like a fool when you fail. So the best is to win first then revel in the glory and talk all the trash you want after that.
a coach or a player coming out and opening up or not opening up his mouth has zero impact on how the game is played.
Who cares what Bilic is saying. It has no impact on the team…none.
I have never seen a press conference that won or lost a game.
Mourinho talks a lot and look at his results over the years.
Ferguson likes to take jabs at people during his press conferences and look at his results.
Fabio Capello says nothing and look at his results going back over the years in italy with Milan and then at Real Madrid.
my point……..what is said or not said has nothing to do with what takes place on the field.
Are they Croatian?
I know it is not croatian news, but what about the Penn/Diaz fight? Should be a great fight.
Hey guys here is the weigh in video for Crocop. He looks to be in good shape and maybe the best I’ve seen him so far in the UFC.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In-DpdcISAI
I dunno, I think Mirko might kill him, he seems pissed.
Weigh ins are complete. Mirko weighed in at 235lbs and Roy Nelson at 252lbs. Will post a link of the photos asap.
@Ante
I actually enjoyed the video. There might be a little bluffing but the last thing you want to do before a fight or game is go into it overconfident. Cro Cop didnt say that he was expecting to lose.
“He’s ok with a loss. It will be disastrous but life will go on.”
You answered your own statement. Its basically a useless and obvious statement by Cro Cop. Of course “life will go on” and of course “it will be disastrous” if he loses. I got nothing out of that that Cro Cop is “ok” with a loss.
@Cro Crippler
“As a fighter especially you shouldn’t even be talking about possibly loosing. You should believe 100 percent you are going to win and if you don’t you have already lost before the fight started.
Same going for Hrvatska in nogomet, I hope they all believe they can beat Turkey!!!”
you are right about believing in yourself, but that is something that you keep to yourself. Cro Cop looks to me like he believes in his training for the fight and he will give his best. He might not think thats good enough to beat Nelson, but he seems satisfied with his training. I think Cro Cop is good mentally. He has over 20 years of experience.
Here is the line of the week from Adrian:
“It seems that croatian athletes don’t do well when they think they will win.”
Bilic and most of the big boys on Croatia talk a big game. “we believe in ourselves” “we are the better side” etc etc. That all means nothing. This is another reason why I dont like previews for Croatian soccer. Most of the stuff that came out of Bilic’ mouth is gibberish. Even now leading up to the Turkey match. Hiddink is quiet like a snake, just waiting to strike.
I do like your preview because I am uneducated about the sport. All of this is new to me.
ajmo Mirko, bar za dobra stara vremena baci jednu nogu po glavu. Right leg hospital, left leg cemetary.
I really do think CC enjoys fighting. So it is not just about the money. I think Ziva is right though. Mirko will fight some cans in Japan even if he loses tomorrow night.
It seems that croatian athletes don’t do well when they think they will win. They need to be told they are worthless and don’t deserve anything. When crocop thought he was going to win for sure against randleman (the first time they met) it cost CC a knockout loss.
I tend to think the Fedor approach of just staying in the moment and not lusting for results brings about the best results. If you spend energy on the outcome you lose what could have been spent on training and preparing. Why not keep the head clear?
Mirko was doing fairly well vs Schaub. Mirko’s age was showing in the fight. Schaub knew he was going to throw a kick and caught him. Just because Nelson beat Schaub means nothing, fights can end in the blink of an eye.
Mirko would’ve lost both fights (Mir, Schaub), but the KO’s came out of no where, which is where his age showed.
@Ziva – Dream (basically former Pride), still operates. They’ll feed Mirko some 200lbs Japanese guy who Mirko will dominate. Basically the bulk of his opponents in Pride days.
I think Nelson beat Schaub in ultimate fighter. We all know how the CC/Schaub fight ended.
This will not be “dida Mirko’s” last fight. Some organization in Japan that already exists or pops up soon will offer him one final pay day for him to go to Japan and fight.
Did Mirko is chasing $$$$$$$$…….and there is nothing wrong with that.
Prediction for the fight: Yes i think Cro-Cop loses, i think it will be a wild right haymaker from “big country”, that will be the end of mirko’s career, somewhere in the 2nd round. Your only as good as your last fight, and we all know he should have had his last fight a while ago. Gonzaga should have knocked some sense into him to retire, but after the kongo fight, there shouldve been no more doubt.
Yes he did have some wins after that in the UFC, al turk, pat barry, and against one of my machado BJJ colleagues anthony perosh, but they were hardly elite quality opposition, and the other more regarded fighters he faced, ended in convicing loses.
I hope he can finish this fight against roy nelson like the Mirko of old with a high left roundhouse and go out with a bang, but we all know this is a long shot. Nevertheless i wish mirko all the best and thanks for the memories.
This fight will go down like the past two.
expect a KO out of no where, as Nelson effectively ends Mirko’s UFC career.
@Ante you hit that nail right on the head. As a fighter especially you shouldn’t even be talking about possibly loosing. You should believe 100 percent you are going to win and if you don’t you have already lost before the fight started.
Same going for Hrvatska in nogomet, I hope they all believe they can beat Turkey!!!
Watch the video guys…
The man doesn’t expect anything from life. We can all be dead tomorrow. That is true, but just like the current state of our national soccer side, mentality is an issue.
He’s ok with a loss. It will be disastrous but life will go on. Fight to win!
He should be saying, “I expect to win because I put the work in and deserve it. I’m prepared.
Unless he’s just after the $$$$$, but he can’t say that in front of reporters, right? 🙂