According to mmaweekly, Gabriel Gonzaga is rumored to be Cro Cop's opponent for UFC 70. Gonzaga's chanches aren't great, but he should be able to put up a better fight than Eddie Sanchez did.
at least sanchez had the 1/100 punchers chance. Gonzaga has none.
If Gonzaga can get it to the ground (and that is a big "if") he might have a chance.
Cro Cops takedown defense is airtight at this point. Only a truly great wrestler, or an aggressive striker who can rush hiim with strikes and knock him off balance is gonna be able to get him down. I don't see Gonzaga possessing either the wrestling or striking to be able to do anything with Mirko.
i agree that Gonzaga will not run around the cage, should be interesting. Quality opponent for Mirko.
I predicted they'd feed Gonzaga to him. Not gonna last long.
This has the makings of another mismatch. Like to see Mirko take on someone who is going to push him a little at least.
UFC HEAVYWEIGHTS: 1. Tim Sylvia - Current UFC Champion 2. Mirko Cro Cop - Pride OWGP Champion 3. Andrei Arlovski - Previous Heavyweight Champion 4. Randy Couture - Previous 2 Time UFC Heavyweight Champion 5. Brandon Vera 6. Gabriel Gonzaga 7. Jake O'Brien 8. Pe De Pano 9. Frank Mir - Previous UFC Champion 10. Heath Herring 11. Carmelo Marrero 12. Cheik Kongo 13. Antoni Hardonk 14. Assuerio Silva 15. Gilbert Aldana 16. Eddie Sanchez 17. Fabiano Scherner 18. Brandon Lee Hinkle 19. Dan Christianson 20. Brad Imes
at least sanchez had the 1/100 punchers chance. Gonzaga has none.
True, but Napao is one of the top 2 or 3 bjj players in the world, so he has a good grapplers chance (not sure he can take mirko down tho).
ttt
Has a better chance that Sanzhez did IMO.
A much better chance than Sanchez ever did.
Although Nog is a better striker, he is not known for having great takedowns. And he took CroCop down and submitted him. I believe Gonzaga is better on the ground than Nog so it could be competitive.
How long ago was the fight with Nog? Think his TD defense has improved just a little bit.
This match doesn't do a whole lot for me, I would rather see Cro Cop fight Kongo or Arlovski.
Kongo??? Dude Gonzaga would tool Kongo...why would you rather see him fight CC?
Although Nog is a better striker, he is not known for having great takedowns. And he took CroCop down and submitted him. I believe Gonzaga is better on the ground than Nog so it could be competitive.
You think Gonzaga is better on the ground then NOG? hmmmm i don't know about that sir.
As a big fan of Gonzaga - this fight disappoints me. I'd hoped they would build up both guys to be title contenders as opposed to blowing one up.
I'd rather have seen Cro-Cop/Kongo for the fireworks and Gonzaga fighting someone else.
Gonzaga has a chance - maybe even a good one. But I don't like this matchup YET.
As a big fan of Gonzaga - this fight disappoints me. I'd hoped they would build up both guys to be title contenders as opposed to blowing one up.
I'd rather have seen Cro-Cop/Kongo for the fireworks and Gonzaga fighting someone else.
Gonzaga has a chance - maybe even a good one. But I don't like this matchup YET.
I can see your point, but IMO Kongo gets ko'd in 30 seconds against CC. Kongo / Arlovski will most likely happen that night.
Gonzaga seems to have worked his striking up to a decent level..
More important, if you watch the Scherner fight, he's been able to meld his grappling and striking pretty well.
Cro Cop is a best though.
Max
"This match doesn't do a whole lot for me, I would rather see Cro Cop
fight Kongo or Arlovski."
Me too. This matchup doesn't do much for me. Gonzaga prolly has
enough ground skill to keep Mirko on the ground for long stretches of
time, but not finish him. If Mirko doesn't kick him in the head early, this
could be a really boring fight of Mirko trying not to get taken down, and
Gonzaga trying not to get stood up.