a bloke that got lucky against a fighter that is actually way better than him ?
Or is Cro Cop on the proverbial downslide after many ring years ?
Neither.
Gonzaga is a guy who you should not take lightly, and I believe when Cro COp says he was laking that warrior spirit. Yes Cro Cop should have beaten Gonzaga but I dont care how great of a fighter you are, when you go in there against a top guy like Gonzaga, not only do you have to be in physical shape but mentally ready as well!
Well what I'm curious about is Gonzagas standup that good, did he find a hole in Cro Cops game, or did he just get lucky.
I think Gonzaga trained his ass off for the fight and CroCop may have taken him a little bit too lightly.
This is the big leagues guys...anyone can kick your teeth in the dirt on any given day...
How many times did CroCop engage during that fight? It was almost non-exsistent. He circled, backed up, and kept looking for a one shot opening.
IMO Mirko's lack of aggression can be his fatal flaw sometimes. He gives fighters he might otherwise be able to hurt the time and opportunity to impose their offense.
Gonzaga is a very good fighter who happened to have an excellent
gameplan against CroCop.....he stood with him, showed very good
standup/movement & confused CroCop who was expecting a takedown
attempt. THEN, Gonzaga takes the punishment of the body kick, catches
the leg, goes to the ground and dominates where he should. After the
first mean elbow, you could tell CroCop was way out of his comfort zone.
The only way i consider Gonzaga lucky in this fight is that Herb stood
them up for no reason, giving Gonzaga the ultimate highlight reel finish.
WHY does a guy who loses have to immediately be second rate? Guys, 50% of fighters lose every fight. It is math. They are both great fighters, and that night Napao was greater. Couture and Napao are both great fighters, and no one knows what is going to happen, which is why you have the fight ...
Basically Gonzaga controlled and dictated the fight from the opening bell.
Cro Cop admitted that he could not let go and pull the trigger as he normally would. This may be due to nerves/focus but I think mainly due to Gonzaga not allowing him to fight his game as Gonzaga pressed the entire fight.
Gonzaga fought the perfect fight, inflicted a lot of damage on the ground and took out a confused Cro Cop before he got a chance to regain his senses.
Gonzaga looked really dominant in this fight and I think he opened a lot of fights. Only time will tell if he can consistently look that good but I was really impressed with him the entire fight, even before the kick he was beating Crocop who only threw the one kick and really paid for it.
coming from the source (thread starter) this thread looks like a moronic troll, especially considering how utterly DOMINATED Mirko was for every minute of the fight. This was no "caught with a lucky strike" situation. Gabe putting a beating on CroCop and then FINISHED him. He probably watched Mirko's Fedor fight and worked a perfect strategy.
Remember, Gabe has finished ALL his wins.....
When you train real hard, expect be rewards
"Well what I'm curious about is Gonzagas standup that good, did he find a hole in Cro Cops game, or did he just get lucky."
i think that his pounding on crocop dazed mirko enough that he was able to exploit him standing much more easily.
wonderful fight by napao
You can tell on the video mirko was not comfortable in the ground, especially with the elbows napao was throwing. Mirko said theirs no difference between training in a ring and an octagon, I'm pretty sure he changed his minds now.
Mirco was skinny cause he wasn't juicing for that fight.
At first I thought Cro Cop gave the fight away.
However qafter seeing the fight 2-3 times I have to say that Gonzaga looked really sharp. Fast hands, quick takedown off the kick, brutal ground and pound, sweet KO high kick, and he reacted VERY fast following up w/ more ground and pound. He domionated every range and moment of that fight.......and all this even inspite of the fact that Herb Dean gave Cro Cop some BS gift standup that made zero sense (unless Dana told him to look out for Cro Cop).
Gonzaga is a badass IMO.
Gonzaga definitely looks like a beast.
They're both great fighters, they'll both be around for awhile.
Cro-cop definitley needs that killer instinct. He's too lax. Reminded me of Rizzo in that fight.
50%?
Acutally it is less, mathmatically.
Figure in N/C.
Oh my... Gee maybe Gabriel is the next big thing. Who knows. Why take credit away from a dominating win. Crocop never had a chance in this fight. Watch it again when did Crocop EVEr have Gonzaga in trouble?
1/2 lose every fight, IMO