UFC 70 won’t be remembered by name rather as that “one UFC where Cro Cop got his head kicked off by that one guy.” To me this was shocking and really disappointing. I am a huge Mirko Cro Cop fan and was really excited to see him come into the UFC so he could destroy Tim Sylvia. At UFC 68, the UFC that followed Cro Cop’s debut, Couture pounded Sylvia so my dream still came true of Sylvia being dethroned but Cro Cop wasn’t going to be the one to do it. I was still excited because Cro Cop vs. Couture is an interesting match up. There was never a doubt in my mind that Cro Cop would get a title shot and as quickly as possible. After he stalked down Eddie Sanchez at UFC 67 I figured he would have one more fight and then the title shot, it was all worked out in my mind, but then entered Gabriel Gonzaga’s dream shattering right foot.
The whole fight started off badly for Cro Cop. Gonzaga came out ready to fight and pounced on Cro Cop. Gonzaga pushed the pace and set the tone of the fight. In a swarming fury he managed to take Cro Cop down and started pummeling him slowly but surely. At this point I wasn’t worried about Cro Cop losing. He is very experienced and has fought the best. He can take a beating and push through it and still win the fight decisively. When Cro Cop finally was able to get up from the ground and out from underneath Gonzaga I felt like the fight was going to turn in Cro Cop’s favor. He had a fire lit under his ass and he was going to unload on Gonzaga.
The first round was closing out and the tension was starting release from my shoulders as I got ready for round 2 mentally thinking about what Cro Cop was going to need to differently when out of no where Gonzaga unleashes a vicious high kick to the side of Mirko Cro Cop’s head that dropped him like a rag doll. It was a major “WTF?” moment for me, very similar to the Anderson Silva vs. Rich Franklin fight. Mirko just laid there with his leg torqued while Gonzaga pranced in celebration.
Gonzaga really proved to people that he is legit. He had soundly beat one of the best fighters in the world and with a move out of Cro Cop’s highlight reel. Looking at the replays it is very clear what happened. Much like Matt Hughes vs. Georges St. Pierre, Gonzaga began his kick like a lower kick, but then went high to catch his opponent. You can see in Mirko’s body posture that he was looking to block a kick to his mid section.
There was a very scary moment though in this fight. When Cro Cop was knocked out his body went limp and he collapsed on his right leg. The very leg that he plants on often to throw his enormous high kicks. His ankle was horribly contorted and his knee looked tweaked as well. At the event Joe Rogan pointed out that Cro Cop could potentially have a very serious injury. But over at Cro Cop’s site they said that “His ankle is getting better and Mirko will be back in full training in a few weeks.” That is a really good sign and apparently he has four fights left on his contract and he says that he “will do them all.” I can’t wait for his return.
Gonzaga is going to be Couture’s first title defense, which is going to be an awesome fight. It will be interesting to see how Couture deals with Gonzaga, and to see if Gonzaga can keep Randy from imposing his will.
