Mirko Cro Cop
Ben RothwellIn what could be his final appearance in the Octagon Mirko Cro Cop will look to get his career back on track when he takes on former IFL champ Ben Rothwell. Mirko Filipović (better known as Mirko Cro Cop), is a Croatian law enforcement officer turned kickboxer and mixed martial artist. His nickname, short for "Croatian Cop", comes from his membership in Croatia's most elite Anti-Terrorist Unit ATJ Lučko.
Cro Cop started his professional career in 1996 as a kickboxer accumulating an amateur record of 40-5 (31 KO's). In 1996, at the age of 21, Cro Cop entered the K-1 World Grand Prix elimination tournament. After defeating the previous year's finalist, Jérôme Le Banner, he was stopped in the next round by Ernesto Hoost. Cro Cop continued building a successful K-1 career with wins over some top ranked opponents including Peter Aerts, Mark Hunt and Remy Bonjasky. He was also the first fighter to beat then-undefeated giant, Bob Sapp in just 86 seconds, breaking Sapp's orbital bone with a left punch. In 2001, Mirko began his switch to fighting in PRIDE, citing personal challenge, as well as dissatisfaction with K-1 salaries. A year later, he also left his job at the anti-terrorist unit in order to focus fully on his martial arts career. In just 2 years Cro Cop compiled an impressive 7-0-2 record in PRIDE taking on some impressive opposition in the form of Wanderlei Silva, Heath Herring & Igor Vovchanchyn. His performances in these fights earned him a shot at then interim heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Cro Cop’s stand-up was effective in the first round, controlling the fight from his feet. However, Nogueira prevailed in the second round after a successful takedown, led to an armbar forcing the tap. After an upset to Kevin Randleman, which he later avenged, Cro Cop put together another 7 fight win streak to set-up one of the most anticipated Heavyweight fights in MMA history against Fedor Emelianenko for the heavyweight title at Pride Final Conflict 2005.
After three rounds, Fedor won by unanimous decision and retained his title. Mirko later stated on Croatian national television that he came exhausted to the match, mostly because he was not used to the time difference in Japan and he had sleeping problems. He also said many times after the match that he fought too defensively and cautiously. The champion, likewise, was not in his top form. According to Fedor he "could not take full advantage of right hand during the striking exchanges and had to try to close the distance," due to a previous hand injury. After this fight Cro Cop was 1-1 before competing in Pride's 2006 Open-Weight Grand Prix, he went on to win the tournament in impressive fashion KO’ing Wanderlei Silva in the semi-finals with his trademark left high kick before defeating Josh Barnett in the final to become the Open-Weight Grand Prix champion. After the Grand Prix, Cro Cop signed a 2 year 6 fight deal with the UFC. After a lot of hype, Mirko failed to deliver in his first 3 UFC fights winning his debut before losing his next 2 bouts to Gabriel Gonzaga & Cheick Kongo. It was at this time that the UFC agreed to let Cro Cop fight in Japan where he went 2-0-1 before finally bringing him back to face Mostapha Al Turk in a fight that he won via TKO due to strikes in the 1s round. After the Al Turk fight Filipović fought Junior dos Santos at UFC 103. During the third round, Filipović sustained a punch to his left eye that caused him to wave his hand at the referee saying "I can't see". The fight was stopped due to submission, giving Dos Santos the win.
Ben Rothwell began fighting in 1999 at the age of 17, he won his first 4 professional fights before suffering the first loss of his career to future UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Ben then put together a 6 fight win streak before dropping a decision to Mike Whitehead. Rothwell re-bounded from the 2nd loss of his career by winning his next 3 fights before going on to what has been the worst spell of his career to date by going 3-3 in his next 6 fights. 2 of these 3 losses were by way of KO, the first time Ben had been KO’d in his career.
After his fight with Dan Christison, Rothwell went on to have a 13 fight win streak which saw him go undefeated in the IFL. This impressive streak convinced Affliction to sign him to fight Andrei Arlovski at their Affliction: Banned event. Rothwell more than held his own against the former UFC champion but got caught in the 3rd round & lost the fight via KO. After the Arlovski fight Ben defeated Chris Guillen via TKO in the first round at Adrenaline MMA 2. In his UFC debut Ben met Cain Velasquez at UFC 104 where he lost in a controversy by TKO at 0:58 of Round 2 due to strikes.
Both of these fighters are coming into this fight off the back of some disappointing performances & they should be extremely motivated to put on an impressive showing in this bout. A lot of people seem to have written off Cro Cop, believing him to be well past his prime. After his recent performances it’s hard to argue with this as he has looked a shadow of the guy who was KO’ing fighter after fighter with his trademark head kicks in Pride, in fact he rarely throws the kicks that made him so famous anymore, which may be part of the reason that his impact in the UFC hasn’t been what many expected. The majority of Cro Cop’s losses have been against opponents who physically overpower him and he doesn’t seem to do well when fighters put pressure on him. If he is to really make a run for the title then this is something that will have to be addressed in his training. If he wants to defeat Rothwell, he will need stuff the takedowns & mix up his strikes, Mirko should have the advantage in the striking and if he starts setting up his trademark kicks again then who knows, we could see a highlight reel KO to announce his comeback. Rothwell will need to pressure Mirko if he is to win this fight & if possible get the Croatian to the ground where he can use his wrestling to maintain top control while using his ground & pound. Cro Cop has had some trouble defending elbows on the ground since fighting in the UFC and this could be an area that Rothwell could have a lot of success in. I’d love to see the old Cro Cop return for this fight & hopefully with his new training camp we’ll see one last run from the former Pride champ.
My Prediction: Mirko Cro Cop via KO.
Keith 'The Dean of Mean' Jardine
Ryan 'Darth' BaderKeith Jardine will look to break his 2 fight losing streak on Saturday when he takes on TUF8 champion Ryan Bader. Keith Jardine made his professional mixed martial arts debut in August 2001, defeating Amir Rahnavardi by armbar submission. He would win five out of his next six bouts, suffering one knockout loss to Travis Wiuff. Jardine was 8-1-1 in his MMA career before appearing on The Ultimate Fighter 2, he was one of the favorites to proceed to the finals on the show, but was not selected to fight until the semi-finals, where he was defeated by eventual winner and current light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. Despite losing on the show, Jardine was given another chance by the UFC defeating Kerry Schall by TKO due to leg kicks at The Ultimate Fighter 2 Finale.
After dropping down a weight class to the light heavyweight division Jardine then went 3-2 in his next five fights before getting an opportunity to fight Chuck Liddell at UFC 76. In biggest fight of his career to date Keith defeated ‘The Iceman’ by split decision and was in line to challenge for the UFC light heavyweight championship. However, in his subsequent fight against ‘The Axe Murderer’ Wanderlei Silva at UFC 84, Jardine got knocked out just 36 seconds into the first round after getting caught in an early exchange of punches. Jardine went on to face Brandon Vera at UFC 89, and ended up winning a split decision after a tough fight. With the victory, Jardine earned a shot at Quinton Jackson at UFC 96. Although the fight was considered an elimination bout for title contention, Jardine and former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans are close friends and training partners, and both have stated that they will not fight each other. In a very close fight, Jardine lost a unanimous decision. Two of the three judges scoring the fight later stated that Jardine would have won if he had not been knocked down in the final seconds of the third round. In his most recent fight Jardine was knocked out by Thiago Silva at UFC 102 1:35 in the first round.
Ryan Bader Bader began training in MMA under trainers Todd Lally and Trevor Lally. He began training at Arizona Combat Sports in early 2007 and is currently undefeated in his young MMA career. Ryan fought six times in 2007, all of them victories. Bader was a contestant on season 8 of The Ultimate Fighter. Bader was the first light heavyweight selected by Coach Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, winning his first 3 fights on the show to earn a spot in the finals. Bader defeated Vinicius Magalhães at The Ultimate Fighter 8 Finale, earning the title of "The Ultimate Fighter" and winning a six-figure UFC contract. He won the fight after catching Magalhães with an overhand right that dropped him and followed up with strikes on the ground to take the win. After the show Bader returned at UFC Fight Night 18, facing off against Carmelo Marrero and ended up winning the fight by unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27). During the match, Bader tore his medial collateral ligament and posterior cruciate ligament. His last fight was against Eric Schafer on October 24, 2009 at UFC 104. The fight went the distance and Bader walked away with a unanimous decision victory.
Ryan Bader has been on a roll since winning The Ultimate Fighter and a win against Jardine will take him one step closer to the elite fighters in the light heavyweight division. Jardine has an unorthodox striking style but has shown that he can be hurt when he gets involved in striking exchanges, Bader isn’t the best striker in the UFC but he does have solid skills & a deadly overhand right which could be a fight ender if he is able to land it. Bader also has excellent wrestling and if he is losing the stand up then he should have the ability to take Keith to the ground, where he will then be able to utilize his ground & pound. I think this would be the best option for Bader if he wants to ensure that he wins the fight, however I have a feeling he may be inclined to trade with Jardine & test his stand-up. Jardine’s best chance at winning this fight will be to use his leg kicks to set up his strikes, the leg kicks would also weaken Bader’s ability to shoot in for the takedown. If Jardine is able to do this effectively then he may just put an end to Bader’s undefeated record. At the end of the night however, I think Bader will prove to be too much for Keith & will walk away with the W.
My Prediction: Ryan Bader via KO.
Joe 'Daddy' Stevenson
George SotiropoulosJoe Stevenson will take on George Sotiropoulos in the lightweight division as he looks to earn another shot at champion BJ Penn. Joe Stevenson made his MMA debut back in May 1999 at 16 years of age, defeating Joe Camacho via submission. He then went on to amass a record of 24-6-0 while capturing the 155 lb championship at King of the Cage as well as the 170lbs championship at Gladiator Challenge before getting chosen to participate on The Ultimate Fighter Season 2. On November 5, 2005 Stevenson defeated Luke Cummo by unanimous decision, winning The Ultimate Fighter 2 welterweight tournament. Joe then lost his first fight after The Ultimate Fighter to Josh Neer, prompting Joe to move down to the Lightweight division.
After moving to Lightweight Joe went on a 4-0 win streak before challenging Lightweight champion BJ Penn for the undisputed championship. Just seconds into the first round, Penn knocked Stevenson down with a right uppercut. BJ then landed a devastating elbow to the head of Stevenson – opening up a serious cut. In the second round, Stevenson fought more aggressively but was still unable to stop Penn from securing a rear naked choke at 4:02 of the second round to end the fight. Since his loss to Penn Joe has defeated Gleison Tibau before losing back to back fights against Kenny Florian at UFC 91 via rear naked choke & Diego Sanchez at UFC 95 via unanimous decision. Stevenson defeated former Ultimate Fighter winner Nate Diaz by unanimous decision at The Ultimate Fighter 9 Finale. Stevenson showed superior wrestling and controlled the duration of the fight. After the Diaz fight, Stevenson defeated perrenial contender Spencer Fisher by submission by way of strikes at UFC 104. Stevenson secured the crucifix "beatdown" position and elbowed Fisher into defeat.
George Sotiropoulos made his MMA debut in November 2004, defeating Gavin Murie via submission in the very first round. George put together an impressive 6-1 record before taking on Shinya Aoki, after getting DQ’d for a groin strike, George lost for the 2nd time in his pro career. Shortly after this loss George was chosen to take part in The Ultimate Fighter 6. He defeated Jared Rollins in the first round of the competition by KO and then went on to defeat Richie Hightower in the quarterfinals via submission due to a kimura. Sotiropoulos was then defeated by Tommy Speer in the semi-finals by knockout, shortly after an accidental thumb to the eye.
After the show ended Sotiropoulos defeated Billy Miles at The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra Finale via submission (rear naked choke) at 1:36 in round 1. Sotiropoulos defeated Roman Mitichyan at UFC Fight Night 13 on 2 April 2008 by TKO in the second round. He was scheduled to fight Karo Parisyan at UFC 87; however George was forced to withdraw due to injury. He was then to face Matt Grice at UFC Fight Night 17, but was again forced to withdraw due to injury. After an 18 month break in his career, he switched weight classes, winning his 155 lb debut at UFC 101 on August 8, 2009 against George Roop. He showed his Jiu Jitsu skills and passed Roop's guard with ease, eventually getting the kimura lock in the second round; making Roop tap out. In his latest fight Sotiropoulos defeated Ultimate Fighter 9 alumni Jason Dent in the second round by armbar on November 21, 2009, at UFC 106.
Sotiropoulos has been on a roll recently but this will be a huge test for him. Stevenson has faced the best fighters in the lightweight division and he will no doubt prove whether George has what it takes to compete at the top of the division. Sotiropoulos’ stand up is decent but his main strength are his submissions, so I think he will need to get Joe to the ground if he wants to stand a chance of winning this fight. This however may prove difficult as Joe is an excellent wrestler with good submission defense aswell. On the feet I think Joe has the advantage & he should look to pick George apart in the opening round before going for a takedown & using his ground and pound to try and stop the Australian. With Joe being so well rounded, I’m having trouble seeing George winning this fight and as long as Stevenson is focused I think he will come away with a decision victory.
My Prediction: Joe Stevenson via decision.
Wanderlei 'The Axe Murderer' Silva
Michael 'The Count' BispingIn the co-main event of the evening Wanderlei Silva makes his return to the Octagon to take on Michael Bisping in his middleweight debut. Wanderlei Silva's first professional match was on November 1, 1996, in the Brazilian Vale Tudo Fighting organization (BVF), where he knocked out Dilson Filho with punches at BVF 6. He fought in one other match in BVF against Marcelao, who submitted due to a shoulder injury. His aggressive style is rooted in street brawling, refined with elements of Muay Thai and kickboxing. Silva was 5-1 before entering the Ultimate Fighting Championship on October 16, 1998, at UFC Brazil: Ultimate Brazil, in a match against Vitor Belfort. This fight has arguably been Silva's worst defeat in his career, lasting only 44 seconds and ending with Silva being knocked down by Belfort's punches before a referee stoppage. Silva won his next UFC match at UFC 20 where he knocked out Tony Petarra with knees. On April 14, 2000, Silva was given a chance to fight for the UFC light heavyweight championship, but lost via decision to Tito Ortiz.
After this loss Silva debuted in PRIDE on September 12, 1999, winning against Carl Malenko by decision. From 1999 to 2004, Silva won eighteen-straight fights in Pride, excluding a draw against Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (under slightly modified rules) and a no contest against Gilbert Yvel (Silva accidentally kicked Yvel in the groin), giving him a twenty-fight unbeaten streak. Silva's reputation as a formidable MMA fighter grew as he developed a successful 5 year win record in the middle weight division(205 lbs). Silva's 5-year undefeated streak came to an end when he fought Mark Hunt at the Pride Shockwave 2004 event. Hunt won the non-title match by split decision however Hunt's weight of 280 lb (125 kg) as well as Silva's performance in rounds two and three caused many people to express their disagreement with the judges decision. Silva also took this fight on two days notice. Silva went 4-3 in his last 7 fights for PRIDE with 2 brutal KO losses to Mirko Cro Cop & Dan Henderson.
On December 29 2007 Silva made his long awaited UFC debut in a much anticipated fight against Chuck Liddell, Silva ended up losing to Liddell by unanimous decision. After the fight Silva promised that next time he would deliver a win after losing his last 3 fights. True to his word, on May 24, 2008 at UFC 84, Silva KO’d Keith Jardine in just 36 seconds. After the Jardine bout Silva fought Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, who he beat twice previously. Jackson avenged his previous defeats by knocking Silva out with a left hook in the first round. Wanderlei met Rich Franklin at UFC 99 in Germany at a catch weight bout of 195 lbs. After a hard fought match on both sides, Silva lost via unanimous decision to Franklin.
Michael Bisping made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Pride & Glory 2: Battle of the Ages on April 4, 2004, taking a 0:38 armbar victory over Steve Mathews. Just one month later, Bisping scored his first knockout against John Weir at UK MMA Challenge 7: Rage & Fury. In his third MMA match, Bisping became the Cage Rage light heavyweight champion at Cage Rage 7, defeating Mark Epstein by technical knockout. Bisping went on to defend his championship title in a rematch against Epstein at Cage Rage 9 in a knockout victory that solidified Bisping as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in England.
Bisping improved his professional record to 10-0 before being invited to participate in The Ultimate Fighter. He won a preliminary bout against Kristian Rothaermel by TKO, followed by a semi-final win against Ross Pointon by submission after landing a flying knee and a series of strikes. In the finals, Bisping defeated Josh Haynes by TKO at 4:14 into the second round, making Bisping the second light heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter television series. Bisping continued his undefeated streak after the show winning his next 3 UFC bouts. His next match at UFC 78 was against fellow Ultimate fighter winner Rashad Evans & resulted in his first loss, via split decision.
After his loss to Rashad Evans, Bisping announced his decision to drop down to the middleweight division and on April 19th 2008 at UFC 83 Bisping made his debut as a Middleweight against Charles McCarthy. Bisping won by TKO as McCarthy was unable to continue after the first round due to a forearm injury he sustained after receiving an unanswered series of knees and uppercuts from Bisping. He was then victorious in both of his subsequent Middleweight fights against Jason Day & Chris Leben respectively before suffering a KO loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100. Bisping faced Spirit MC & Pride veteran Denis Kang on November 14, 2009 at UFC 105. Bisping TKO'd Kang in the 2nd round.
This fight could very well take the fight of the night honors. This will be Silva’s first fight since June 2009 & since then he has had surgery on his scar tissue & nose which he has claimed to have helped him train even harder. This will also be Wanderlei’s first fight at middleweight so he will want to make a big impression after some disappointing defeats in his last couple of fights. Bisping got back to winning ways in his last fight and showed the heart of warrior after surviving the storm from Kang before coming back to win the fight. He will need to show that same kind of heart in this fight as Silva has some serious power & if he catches Bisping then he will need to recover quickly. Both of these fighters tend to favour the stand-up game so I expect most of the fight to take place on the feet. Bisping is the more technical striker and should be able to land more shots; however Silva has the power to end the fight at any moment so Michael will need to stay focused and keep his defence up at all times. If he able to do this then he should be able to counter Wanderlei’s wild strikes & maybe get a unanimous decision. Look for Wanderlei to come out aggressive as he always does, if he is able to connect cleanly with any of his strikes then I think he’ll have the killer instinct to put Bisping away, however he cannot afford to get wreck less looking for the KO. Even though Bisping is not known for his one punch KO power, he still has the ability to put fighters away so Silva will also need to stay tight with his defence. If Bisping is able to stick to his game plan then he has the tools to get the win in this fight, however I have a feeling his concentration will slip at some point & Wanderlei will be there to capitalize.
My Prediction: Wanderlei Silva via KO.
Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira
Cain VelasquezIn the main event of the evening Cain Velasquez will look to continue his impressive unbeaten record as he faces off against the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Minotauro Nogueira. Cain Velasquez is a former 2-Time All-American collegiate wrestler from Arizona State and a Junior College National Champ at Iowa Central Community College. He made his professional MMA debut in October 2006 against Jesse Fujarczyk on the Strikeforce: Tank vs. Buentello card, Cain stopped his opponent in just under 2 minutes via TKO due to punches. He followed up his successful debut with another 1st round TKO victory this time over Jeremiah Constant before being signed by the UFC to fight on their UFC 83 card against Brad Morris. Cain kept up his 1st round knockout streak as he stopped Morris just after 2 minutes into the bout. His next fight came against UFC veteran Jake O’Brien, in what was expected to be a tough test for Velasquez turned out to be a relatively easy fight which Cain ended in impressive fashion with another 1st round TKO. Cain’s latest fight was against Denis Stojnić at UFC Fight Night 17. The fight was stopped in round two with Velasquez earning the victory improving his professional record to a perfect 5-0 with 5 KO’s. Cain went the distance for the first time in his career in his next fight at UFC 99 as he defeated Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision. After the Kongo fight, Cain fought IFL veteran Ben Rothwell at UFC 104, winning via TKO in the 2nd round.
In 1999, at age 23, Nogueira made his mixed martial arts debut against David Dodd in World Extreme Fighting 6, submitting Dodd via crucifix in the first round. After defeating Nate Schroeder via armbar in WEF 7, he fought in Japan for the Rings promotion's King of Kings 1999 forty eight man tournament held over 3 events where he won three fights before losing by decision to Dan Henderson in the tournament semi-finals. In between the two Rings events in which he competed he defeated Jeremy Horn by decision at WEF 8. Nogueira then entered the King of Kings 2000 forty man tournament held over three events, winning all of his five matches to become the tournament champion.
In 2001 Nogueira signed with Pride and won his first 3 fights capturing the Heavyweight title in the process. Nogueira went on to win his subsequent 5 fights to take his record with the organization to 8-0 including wins over Bob Sapp, Semmy Schilt, Enson Inoue, Mark Coleman & Dan Henderson. Now regarded as the best heavyweight in MMA, with a record of 19-1-1 after avenging his only loss, Nogueira took on Fedor Emelianenko at Pride 25 where his remarkable winning streak came to an end, losing a judges' decision after Emelianenko dominated the fight with his characteristic ground-and-pound through the guard. Nogueira rebounded from the loss by winning his next 5 fights to set-up a re-match with Fedor at Final Conflict 2004. The fight was markedly different from their first, with Nogueira able to avoid the damage he suffered from ground-and-pound in their first meeting, but was stopped when Emelianenko suffered a cut after an accidental head butt and could not continue, resulting in a no contest. Another rematch was required to determine the tournament champion, and was scheduled for Pride Shockwave 2004 on 31 December 2004. Despite Nogueira's improved gameplan and striking technique, he suffered another unanimous decision loss to Emelianenko.
After his second loss to Fedor, Nogueira won his following 4 fights before dropping a split decision to Josh Barnett at Pride Final conflict Absolute. Despite losing to Barnett it wouldn’t take long for Nogueira to get his shot at revenge as he fought Josh again just 3 months later, this time winning a unanimous decision. Shortly after this Nogueira signed with the UFC and made a successful debut at UFC 73, defeating Heath Herring via unanimous decision. At UFC 81 Nogueira defeated Tim Sylvia in the third round with a guillotine choke to become the interim heavyweight champion. After the Sylvia fight, Nogueira fought Frank Mir at UFC 92 for the interim UFC heavyweight title. Mir won in the second round via TKO due to strikes, showing much improved striking by knocking Nogueira down twice in the first round, Herb Dean stopped the match at 1:54 of the second round. The loss marked the first time Nogueira had been stopped in his career. The UFC next wanted to schedule Nogueira to face Randy Couture at UFC 97, but Couture had to turn down the fight due to elbow surgery in January 2009. Couture later agreed to fight Nogueira at UFC 102 in Portland, OR. Nogueira defeated Couture via unanimous decision.
This is a huge fight for Cain as a win here will surely put him in line for a shot at the title. Cain has slowly been stepping up the competition in his last few fights & he has impressed almost every time. Nogueira is a world class opponent and if Cain wants to be a champion in this division he will need to put Nog away. I think Cain will need to use his wrestling in this fight if he is to win, Nogueira has a slight advantage in the stand-up & after seeing Cain get dropped in previous fights I don’t think it would be in his best interests to stand & trade with the Brazilian. His focus should be on getting Nogueira up against the cage & if possible take him down and get into side control, I don’t think Cain will want to end up in Nogueira’s guard as he has one of the best guards in MMA today & has finished numerous opponents with submissions off of his back. In order for Nogueira to win this fight he will want to keep the distance & use his superior boxing to pick Cain apart while looking to land a big shot. Even though he would probably prefer to keep the fight standing, I doubt Minotauro will worry too much if the fight does go to the ground. One thing that Nogueira may have trouble with is the pace that Cain sets when he fights, his cardio is excellent and he doesn’t seem to slow down at all. If this fight does go to the later rounds then I’d tend to favour Cain. Despite this at the end of the night I think Nog will have too much experience for the younger Cain & will take a step closer to re-gaining the title.
My Prediction: Minotauro Nogueira via submission.
