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Post by Scorcho on Sept 23, 2008 11:47:11 GMT -5
Alistair Overeem just couldn’t find his aim Tuesday in Japan against Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic.
Following several knees to the cup of the Croatian and a yellow card for the final infraction, the main heavyweight attraction of Dream 6 was halted as a near-capacity crowd at the Saitama Super Arena looked on disappointed.
“It was a mistake to make earlier in the fight,” said Overeem. “I wanted to finish ‘Cro Cop’ in a KO or a submission in a fair way. I trained really, really hard for this fight.”
Overeem (28-11, 1 NC) dominated Filipovic from the sound of the bell, scoring with takedowns and vicious hooks to the body from the top position in guard. While on their feet, the Dutchman scored to the midsection with knees from the clinch.
The heavy-hitting Golden Glory fighter opened up cuts near both eyes of the Pride 2006 heavyweight tournament champion. He looked close to finishing the beaten-down Filipovic when aim became an issue.
Two right knees slammed the groin protector of Cro Cop, and time was given for the fighter to recover. After a break lasting several minutes, Overeem went right back to the clinch, where he lifted his opponent off the floor with a left knee to the cup.
Filipovic (23-6-2, 1 NC) laid on his back for several minutes until referee Yuji Shimada announced that the bout had been ruled a no contest midway through the first period.
From Sherdog
Dammit, I've been waiting for this fight forver and now this crap. This is the second CC fight of three that was marred by him getting hit in the pills. I want to see if CC still has it and it looks like I'll probably have to wait another six months to find out.
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Post by "SIN" Christiansin on Sept 23, 2008 13:56:00 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure after reading that he was dominated the entire fight until the knees happened kinda tells you he is on the decline. Cro Cop should just drop to LHW where he at least would have a shot against top talent.
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Post by Der Vermittler on Sept 23, 2008 20:10:40 GMT -5
Doesn't Overeem usually fight Light-heavy anyways? If you judge CC from his performance in his last few fights, it doesn't seem like he'd do much better there either. But hey, fighters have slumps. It hasn't been long since people thought of him and Chuck as practically unbeatable, and I'm not entirely convinced either of them are completely washed up just yet.
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Post by "SIN" Christiansin on Sept 24, 2008 1:18:42 GMT -5
I have never seen Alistair fight anything but HW.
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Post by Shooter on Sept 24, 2008 7:25:39 GMT -5
Yeah I've always seen him at HW
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Danilo Braga
Journeyman Fighter
Pockets Packed With Presidents
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Post by Danilo Braga on Sept 24, 2008 8:36:13 GMT -5
He fought Shogun, Chuck, Arona, and all those guys at 205, everyone thought he was one of the best LHWs in the world before he went on a losing streak
I have to say that I would have liked to see how the fight would have played out, Overeem pretty much always puts on a really good performance and then gasses which leads to him getting knocked out, so it wasn't unlikely that Cro Cop could have pulled out the victory
I'm wondering if Cro Cop played it up a bit, I've never been kneed in the nuts by a world class Muay Thai fighter who is 6'6 and outweighs me 20 pounds, but I've seen lots of guys get cup checked and they are usually ready to go faster than Cro Cop was, and they usually aren't unable to continue after only the second one
I seen guys get hit good in the nuts three times and still continue, I've never seen a guy quit from a kick in the nuts
But since Overeem did it too, and after he was winning the fight, will Cro Cop nuthuggers finally let Kongo off the hook?
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Post by Scorcho on Sept 24, 2008 10:30:44 GMT -5
He was originally at 205 and recently moved up to HW.
He was controlling CC until that point, but anything can happen. It sucks, I want a definitive answer, and I want him in a fight with someone other than a can, and someone who doesn't blast him in the pills every chance he gets.
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Post by victorious on Sept 24, 2008 13:38:32 GMT -5
CC is done for imo. Overeem was having his way with him just like Kongo. Overeem fought Vitor Belfort at 205 also but has looked much better at HW.
Overeem vs Kongo ftw.
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Post by flashflurry on Sept 25, 2008 14:31:03 GMT -5
I wouldn't say Cro Cop is "washed up". He still has some fight left in him.
He just isn't the same dominant striker he was a few years back.
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heat
Ultimate Fighter
Posts: 60
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Post by heat on Sept 26, 2008 13:43:30 GMT -5
I think its good for Overeem to fight at HW. Even as a HW he is a big guy, his biggest issue at 205 was conditioning. He had to clearly cut a LOT of weight to fight at LHW and I think it had a huge effect on his stamina. He was pretty dominant and winning a lot of fights against some top guys like Shogun until he all of a sudden gassed.
And Im sorry, but I lost a bit of respect for Cro Cop after this fight. Yes he got hit in the balls, the second time it was a pretty head on shot. But I've seen fighters get blasted in the nuts more than once in a fight and come back within a minute. Even after the first blow, Cro Cop was rolling around like he was dieing and took about as much time as he could. I think he could have continued just fine, but realized Overeem was dominating him in all facets of the fight and he took the easy way out and avoided a L on his record.
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Post by jimmythomson on Sept 26, 2008 14:08:40 GMT -5
I think Crocops main problem is he lacks the hunger he had once. He's always been kind of inconsistent and he tends to second guess himself. If Crocop could get refocused he would tear through Overeem on the feet. He seemed unfocused and undertrained in the Overeem fight. Maybe Crocop is getting near the end of his tenure in MMA but I for one don't want to see it end this soon. It wasn't long ago he was whooping ass in PRIDE then he goes to the UFC and drops two bouts and gets discouraged in typical Crocop fashion. Once he gets off his ass and starts trying he's going to do good. Maybe not be the same level he once was but I see him getting some more LHK KO's before the end of his career.
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Post by jimmythomson on Sept 26, 2008 14:17:37 GMT -5
Yeah I've always seen him at HW Alistair jumps between LHW and HW quite a lot. He fought Chuck (first fight I seen him at LHW in really), Rodney Faverus (No clue who that guy is), Antonio Rogerio Nogueira 2x (little nog for those of you who don't know their names), Vitor Belfort 2x, Igor Vovchanchyn (after he dropped weight.), Shogun 2x, and Ricardo Arona. Now, how did you guys manage to miss all of those fights?
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Post by jimmythomson on Sept 26, 2008 14:18:58 GMT -5
He was originally at 205 and recently moved up to HW. He was controlling CC until that point, but anything can happen. It sucks, I want a definitive answer, and I want him in a fight with someone other than a can, and someone who doesn't blast him in the pills every chance he gets. He has fought at HW a lot before here recently. He tends to move between LHW and HW more than the average fighter.
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Post by jimmythomson on Sept 26, 2008 14:20:50 GMT -5
He fought Shogun, Chuck, Arona, and all those guys at 205, everyone thought he was one of the best LHWs in the world before he went on a losing streak I have to say that I would have liked to see how the fight would have played out, Overeem pretty much always puts on a really good performance and then gasses which leads to him getting knocked out, so it wasn't unlikely that Cro Cop could have pulled out the victory I'm wondering if Cro Cop played it up a bit, I've never been kneed in the nuts by a world class Muay Thai fighter who is 6'6 and outweighs me 20 pounds, but I've seen lots of guys get cup checked and they are usually ready to go faster than Cro Cop was, and they usually aren't unable to continue after only the second one I seen guys get hit good in the nuts three times and still continue, I've never seen a guy quit from a kick in the nuts But since Overeem did it too, and after he was winning the fight, will Cro Cop nuthuggers finally let Kongo off the hook? Just now read this, you beat me to it.... Damn You. Also, Chuck Vs. Alistair = one of the funniest KO's I've ever seen. Overeem gives Chuck a little smirk, Chuck throws an overhand right, Overeem tries to block it and gets caught right in the jaw, Overeem goes down hard. For the record, Crocop didn't overplay anything. When a man gets kneed in the testicles and has one knocked up inside of his abdomen he has a right to quit fighting. Alistair said he didn't hit Crocop in the testi's but I seen the fight, Crocop lifts off the ground and the ref immediately stops it. Alistair shouldn't have used Cheick Kongo's strategy and he might have won that fight. Instead he got caught throwing those knees and Crocop got his chance to quit. Only difference is Cheick hit Crocop like 4 times in the balls. Alistair only hit him twice (3 really, but 2 that actually looked painful.).
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heat
Ultimate Fighter
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Post by heat on Sept 26, 2008 15:49:42 GMT -5
Geez, is someone farming their post count ;D
And regardless, I still think he overplayed the damage and used it as an excuse for a way out of the fight.
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