Hopefully, he feeds off that support, strings together some wins against some of the extremely talented fighters mentioned above, and returns to the Octagon a new man. That’s a lot to ask for … I know.
****

Thats what a lot of true non-fanboyish MMA fans want. This guy to get back to his killer self.

Realy lookin forward to seein Cro Cop get back to old form. Gonna be great to see. Hopefully he fights at the first show in March.

Everyone should be on their guard for me and especially those 2 guys I lost to [Gabriel Gonzaga and Cheick Kongo]

Then why didn’t you dedicate more time to training in an octagon? You knew what a huge opportunity you were getting by joining the UFC. I just don’t understand why you didn’t chose to make the most of it.

Here’s a quick translation of what he says in the interview at the beginning:

“How did the deal with the new organization DREAM came together?”

Basically they called me up, asked if I wanted to take part in it and that was it, I agreed to 3 fights. Its no secret that I prefer the ring over the cage, which does not mean that I won’t train in the cage anymore. But the key reason was that I asked for a fight in the UFC as soon as 1st of march, but they couldn’t find a fighter till may, which was too much time off for me.

“It was really good watching you excercise, looks like you gained some muscle?”

Yea, I feel really good. About 6 months now I am dedicating myself solely to training. I improved physically as well as mentally. I was somewhat in a crisis, lost my will to fight and somewhat desire to excercise. This is not an excuse, training was ok before the last two fights, but the fighting spirit was missing. Now I got that back and can’t wait for march 15th.

[..the bit where he lists the opponents..]

“Has retiring crossed your mind?”

Of course it has, especially because plenty of people kept asking me if I want to quit or continue the whole time. But just like Federer (a tennis player in case you dont know) won’t be asked to retire just because he lost in three sets at the finals, a fighter shouldn’t necessarily retire either. Of course its hard to compare tennis with ultimate fighting and for some sports I am simply too old, but I think around 35 you really have your peak in (mixed) martial arts and when you think about Randy Couture, who came back in his forties and claimed the title – and not by a lucky punch, but by dominating the entire fight.

So, I can only say my opponents should be on their guard, especially those two I lost to.

“Has retiring crossed your mind?”

Of course it has, especially because plenty of people kept asking me if I want to quit or continue the whole time. But just like Federer (a tennis player in case you dont know) won’t be asked to retire just because he lost in three sets at the finals, a fighter shouldn’t necessarily retire either. Of course its hard to compare tennis with ultimate fighting and for some sports I am simply too old, but I think around 35 you really have your peak in (mixed) martial arts and when you think about Randy Couture, who came back in his forties and claimed the title – and not by a lucky punch, but by dominating the entire fight.

So, I can only say my opponents should be on their guard, especially those two I lost to.

Welcome back, YouTapped.

good thing you tapped showed up cuz i didnt understand a word of that

****
Hopefully, he feeds off that support, strings together some wins against some of the extremely talented fighters mentioned above, and returns to the Octagon a new man. That’s a lot to ask for … I know.
****

Thats what a lot of true non-fanboyish MMA fans want. This guy to get back to his killer self.

Agreed. Please let it be so…Not holding my breath though. He has to show me something first before I can begin to believe again.

Then why didn’t you dedicate more time to training in an octagon? You knew what a huge opportunity you were getting by joining the UFC. I just don’t understand why you didn’t chose to make the most of it.

Some of you guys are just so stubborn. All of the reasons have been explained. I want to see CroCop conquer the UFC too, and hopefully one day he still may. But stop holding on so tight. Just read the post by ‘YouTapped’ again. A true CroCop fan would be pleased and excited by what is said there!

I think he realized that he couldn’t handle just being a member of the parliement. Fighters do what fighters do best, and thats fight, not chit chat about bills or laws.

Plus being a high paid fighter is a lot better then being in extreme danger like he would be as a member of the special police.

A while ago he was talking about retirering, but after the Kongo loss he woke up and realized his true desires. If he really wants to come back the the UFC after some fights with DREAM then I think its beneficial, and I guess he wont be fighting tomato cans like fedor is.

Who time will tell. BEST OF LUCK CRO COP!!!!

This is one of those moments where it’s heart or head. My heart says hell yea and I can’t wait to see him raise the UFC Heavyweight Belt. My head says he’ll have a few, maybe lose few, and just keep fighting overseas. I hope not but that’s the thought I’m having right now. And just maybe… If he fights Fedor and wins… Waiting sucks. Anyway, Cro Cop’s still the man.

If he can truly rededicate himself to fighting then there’s no reason to think he can’t be a force in the HW division again. A lot of haters called him washed up after seeing him fight in the UFC, but I think that a focused Cro Cop is one of the best fighters in the world. I will be interested to see who he gets matched up against in DREAM.

I guess DREAMS will be fighting it out with WVR and K-1 in Japan. I wonder if Cro Cop has been going through some personal problems (e.g. depression)? Cro Cop is a class act.

I love how DREAM is comming up… UFC is great but PRIDE was entertainment…. and what was the point of UFC buying out PRIDE just so they can bring over there fighters and fight for the UFC.. if thats the case why did Dana white say we are leaving pride the way it is.. don’t worry this is not about business this is about the fans and the fighters.. I hope DREAM and M-1 team up and really make it about the figheters and not how much pay per view they can sell..

And i wish he fights Kongo when he comes back beat his no nipple ass down CRO COP

Talk is cheap – get back in there and show us you are not over the hill on at this point, will I say, CroCop is back. Good luck to him, I hope he is true to his word (and I would love to see him knock out Kongo)

HAHA…forget the return of Mirko Cro Cop…cheer the return of Lenne Hardt!

I Hardt Lenne.

I really don’t understand why Crocop doesn’t continue his career in the UFC at 205… He’s a small HW that can make LHW quite easily…

Please come back at 205 Crocop… I wanna see you square off with Chuck!

i think its enough talk about cro cop the man couldnt take the competition in the ufc so he ducked out and let himself return to the people he can be copetitive with and be a winner again and get talked up with fedor.

I really don’t understand why Crocop doesn’t continue his career in the UFC at 205… He’s a small HW that can make LHW quite easily…

Please come back at 205 Crocop… I wanna see you square off with Chuck!

He would do better at HW statistically but then again he did lose 2 in a row.

I Hardt Lenne.

HAHAHAHA ridiculous Jesse, absolutly ridiculous.

I really don’t understand why Crocop doesn’t continue his career in the UFC at 205… He’s a small HW that can make LHW quite easily…

Please come back at 205 Crocop… I wanna see you square off with Chuck!

What kinda shit are you smoking?

What kinda shit are you smoking?

CroCop is a heavyweight. Get used to it. Enough of the LHW talk already.

****
Hopefully, he feeds off that support, strings together some wins against some of the extremely talented fighters mentioned above, and returns to the Octagon a new man. That’s a lot to ask for … I know.
****

Thats what a lot of true non-fanboyish MMA fans want. This guy to get back to his killer self.

yep i agree. cro cop can still be a great fighter in the ufc but he needs to get back to being himself. the cage really screwed him up. once he gets used to the cage watch out antoino. you might have some good fights coming. cro cop vs the pit bull. i really would love to see this fight. and were is vitor belfort at?

CroCop is a heavyweight. Get used to it. Enough of the LHW talk already.

if cro cop can get down to 205lbs. he should because jackson’s next fight is a joke. griffin should go to middlewieght. he is to weak for 205lbs. come on dana jackson vs griffin. give me some of what your smoking. so i can think this is a good fight. i can’t beleive griffin got a title shot before jardine, houston or even thiago silva. who the hell does the rankings for the ufc. jardine KO griffin. houston KO jardine & thiago silva KO houston. how does griffin get the title shot. i tell you why because of the TV show and all the new fans love him because of the bonnar fight. how long will that fight carrie him.

Anyone notice the octogan behind him? Irony???

dude i gotta say i think this is another instance of a guy from pride juicing
the interviewer even says “looks like youve gained some muscle”
i keep thinking this but i cant get over how much smaller some of the guys from pride (ehhem shogun, wandy) looked in the octagon..it could be theyre just fighting bigger guys in the ufc but idk
looks like hes going back to less stringent testing? just a thought

As much as I love Cro Cop. I cannot see how this is going to lead into him making a triumphant return to the UFC. unless of Course fedor or Randy Both by some miracle end up back in the UFC by end of 2008-09. Because realistically. he’s already lost to Hunt and Fedor, Defeated Barnett 3 times. Kharitonov has fallen so far down the ladder this match only makes sense to Die Hard fans.

Let’s be real for a minute. He came to The UFC with ALL the momentum in the world by winning the Open Weight grand prix defeated WAnderlei Silva and Josh Barnett in the same night and came out of it relatively undamaged. Granted you can make an arguement that BArnett was damaged in the Finals. But he still won? How in the world is fighting in DREAM going to instill confidence in this guy when He will have to return to the place that might have mentally broken him down in the First place.

Let’s face it. Sylvia. Lesnar. Mir. And Avenging Gonzaga, Kongo and Nogueira in my opinion stacked as a higher priority than fighting Fedor a second time. He didnt get the job done now he left and let a good majority of his fans down. Will still continue to be a fan. But I feel a little let down by all of this. But if he thinks this is the right choice for his career. Then hey….

@mmamania: Cheers man – whenever I am a bit out of the loop regarding MMA I check your site to get myself an update. You’re doing a good job.

To address a few comments:

@Muscle Dolphin:
Actually it won’t be DREAMS vs. K-1, because DREAMS is the follow-up organization of HERO’s, aka “K-1 HERO’s”, so its just DREAMS vs. WVR.
Considering they have CroCop, Aoki, Gilbert Melendez, Caol Uno, Denis Kang and so on, I think this one goes to DREAMS, especially because they have the DSE staff (makers of PRIDE) and the lady with the crazy voice. ;)
And yes, he had somewhat of a depression and crisis, which seems to be over now. Additionally he had his nose job done (still can’t get used to how he looks now), so he can breathe better, which has been bothering him for quite a while.

@NDkarl:
Juicing-allegations are stupid at this point. He was training to compete in march with the UFC and bulking up was just the right move considering how small of an heavyweight he is/was compared to his last two opponents. Kongo had 231 lbs on his 220lbs the last fight, Gonzaga even had 20 pounds on him. So he started to bulk up to be physically competitive with the larger heavyweights in the UFC. Any why would he juice to accomplish that, considering the UFC tests the high-profile fighters? This makes clearly no sense.

BTW, if you juice as a heavyweight, you look like Cheick Kongo, not like CroCop or Randy or Gonzaga.

Oh, regarding the “move to LHW” talk: Dana White said on beatdown that (in the distant future) Chuck Liddell will/wants to move to heavyweight to fight CroCop. So there you have it, no more need for speculation.

(BTW: in case someone doesn’t know, Chuck has the same background as CroCop in being a kickboxer first and foremost, this will sure make for an exciting fight)

Oh, regarding the “move to LHW” talk: Dana White said on beatdown that (in the distant future) Chuck Liddell will/wants to move to heavyweight to fight CroCop. So there you have it, no more need for speculation.

(BTW: in case someone doesn’t know, Chuck has the same background as CroCop in being a kickboxer first and foremost, this will sure make for an exciting fight)

 Actually his first background was wrestling.(shut up with karate, karate sucks)

Is that Ray Sefo he mentioned? i was wondering where he was at the other day. I really hate sefo and hope he gets smashed in every fight he takes from now on, give him – Kharitonov 1st then Fujita 2nd to end his big headed career. I will never forget how much of an idiot and pure arse hole sefo was against beastman.

Actually his first background was wrestling.(shut up with karate, karate sucks)

Good point, but in kickboxing he gained some merits like national championships, whilst he has not earned any kind of wrestling glory (as far as I know). Also, if its a fight between those two, then its the kickboxing background that will really “kick in” (sorry, that one was lame). :P

I am happy he left/ The UFC heavyweight division is slowly evaporating. There are more then enough interesting opponents for him in Japan. I dont think that Cro Cop ever fought Kharitonov, and that match would be crazy!

I am happy he left/ The UFC heavyweight division is slowly evaporating. There are more then enough interesting opponents for him in Japan. I dont think that Cro Cop ever fought Kharitonov, and that match would be crazy!

Also how many people would complain about rematches of:
Hunt vs. Cro Cop
Fedor vs. Cro Cop
or Barnett vs. Cro cop (the only way I want to see these guys fight is if it took place in a cage).

In Hindsight, the UFC should have signed Barnett and let him fight Cro Cop in the octagon. Cro cop has beatin Barnett a few times already and it would have probably given cro cop a mental boost fighting Barnett, someone he knows he has beaten repeatedly.

We have to admit that the UFC did a poor job of managing Cro Cop’s career. He was the fighter who had the hardest time adapting to the UFC:

Cro Cops 1st fight should have been against Eddie Sanchez…that was the perfect warm up.

His second fight in the UFC should have been against Hearing who he also defeated in Pride but it would have been a step above Eddie Sanchez.

His third fight in the UFC should have been against Barnett, That would be a marquee match up for the UFC, but it would give cro cop the mental edge over a highly ranked opponent that is no stranger to the UFC fans.

Then I would have given him Kongo, and then Gonzaga.

If the UFC manged him a little better, he may not have become the biggest bust in the history of the UFC.

Still there are many great match ups awaiting cro cop in Japan!

“In Hindsight, the UFC should have signed Barnett and let him fight Cro Cop in the octagon. Cro cop has beatin Barnett a few times already and it would have probably given cro cop a mental boost fighting Barnett, someone he knows he has beaten repeatedly.

We have to admit that the UFC did a poor job of managing Cro Cop’s career. He was the fighter who had the hardest time adapting to the UFC:

Cro Cops 1st fight should have been against Eddie Sanchez…that was the perfect warm up.

His second fight in the UFC should have been against Hearing who he also defeated in Pride but it would have been a step above Eddie Sanchez.

His third fight in the UFC should have been against Barnett, That would be a marquee match up for the UFC, but it would give cro cop the mental edge over a highly ranked opponent that is no stranger to the UFC fans.

Then I would have given him Kongo, and then Gonzaga.

If the UFC manged him a little better, he may not have become the biggest bust in the history of the UFC."

Hindsight is 20-20. Fighters have their own managers; it is not the UFC’s job. They schedule fights. They didn’t bring in Cro-cop to put him in fights he had already been in and they didn’t bring him in to fight cans. There have been plenty people that posted to say that he shouldn’t have fought Gonzaga prior to that fight and should have been fighting someone better. Gonzaga showed he was up to the challenge after all. 20-20.

Cro-cop was burning the candle at both ends and it is understandible he burnt out for a bit. Training, fighting, special police, and Congressional duties in his country. Saying he couldn’t hack it is unfair to a guy who has done for the sport what he has. I just hope he is truly back to being a killer(be it in the UFC or in Japan or even better, both) and starts rattling skulls again.

lets face it, the HW fighters in the ufc are at about the same level as that of Dreams HW fighters.

Then why didn’t you dedicate more time to training in an octagon? You knew what a huge opportunity you were getting by joining the UFC. I just don’t understand why you didn’t chose to make the most of it.

everyone should be on guard for me, what the fuck?

“In Hindsight, the UFC should have signed Barnett and let him fight Cro Cop in the octagon. Cro cop has beatin Barnett a few times already and it would have probably given cro cop a mental boost fighting Barnett, someone he knows he has beaten repeatedly.

We have to admit that the UFC did a poor job of managing Cro Cop’s career. He was the fighter who had the hardest time adapting to the UFC:

Cro Cops 1st fight should have been against Eddie Sanchez…that was the perfect warm up.

His second fight in the UFC should have been against Hearing who he also defeated in Pride but it would have been a step above Eddie Sanchez.

His third fight in the UFC should have been against Barnett, That would be a marquee match up for the UFC, but it would give cro cop the mental edge over a highly ranked opponent that is no stranger to the UFC fans.

Then I would have given him Kongo, and then Gonzaga.

If the UFC manged him a little better, he may not have become the biggest bust in the history of the UFC."

Hindsight is 20-20. Fighters have their own managers; it is not the UFC’s job. They schedule fights. They didn’t bring in Cro-cop to put him in fights he had already been in and they didn’t bring him in to fight cans. There have been plenty people that posted to say that he shouldn’t have fought Gonzaga prior to that fight and should have been fighting someone better. Gonzaga showed he was up to the challenge after all. 20-20.

Cro-cop was burning the candle at both ends and it is understandible he burnt out for a bit. Training, fighting, special police, and Congressional duties in his country. Saying he couldn’t hack it is unfair to a guy who has done for the sport what he has. I just hope he is truly back to being a killer(be it in the UFC or in Japan or even better, both) and starts rattling skulls again.

what r u talking about DUDE? The UFC is infamous for managing the careers of some of their bigger investments, For example: Bisping. R u trying to tell me that Bisping’s career isnt being overmanaged by the UFC? Never once did I say he couldnt hack it in the UFC. He was a bust because he did not live up to his potential. But yeah cro cop has the potential to make some noise in the UFC.

Then again, there are some horrible stylistic match ups in the UFC for cro cop. His style would have been demolished by Randy. I knew Kongo was going to beat him…I actully had $200 on Kongo that night, and since he was an underdog he won me some nice cash. Stylistically Brock Lesner is a horrible fight for cro cop. Brock took Mir Down immediately. If Brock does that to cro cop, the fight would be over…Cro cop would never be able to get the fight standing again and we all know cro cop has no submissions in his arsenal. Brock is not even a top 10 fighter who’s record is a novice 1-1, and I am not even that big of a fan of Brock but I think stylistically, Cro Cop is a dream match up for Brock.

Mirko has too many holes in his game at this point in time. Until some of those holes get corrected he has absolutely no shot of being UFC champion…so he might as well go build himself back up in DREAM because his value would have completely evaporated if he were to stay in the UFC and loose another 3 fights in a row. At least if he goes back to Japan, gains some momentum, he could come back to the UFC with some value.

Until he can bring something else besides a high left kick, a left cross, and an occasional left kick to the body……He has no business being in the UFC

anyone notice he’s still wearing the blue pride gloves when he trains. Aren’t they a different weight then the ufc, not that it matters too much.

Also, Cro Cops contract stated he would get a title shot if he had won 2 in a row. The loss to Gonzaga really f’d everything up, but you know what.

It was probably better off, he could have gotten seriously hurt against Randy with what he displayed.

Fight I would love to see: Sergei Kharitonov vs. Andre Arlovski… It could happen if Arlovski signs with DREAD or M-1

Anyone know what the rules for DREAM will be? Heard they will be Pride’s rules, which would be perfect. Also heard they may be even further geared toward striking which would be taking it too far and really derail the Cro Cop Comeback for me.

Fedor, Kharitonov, Hunt, Barnett, K-1 guys, Sefo, Lebanner, possibly Peter Aerts….. Anyone aged below 50? HA HA HA