[irishman]

If he gets by Wandy (which I doubt) he will undoubtedly not have the stamina to beat either Nog or Barnett...this tourney is all Nog.

[Banderlei-Silba]

Bullit68, I could not have put it any way better, dude I was about to put that argument up. Hun, Sapp in K-1 failed with the pressure strategy, Randleman, Aleks and Herring failed with it also in MMA. There is no certain way to beat Mirko.

And I knew about the nose surgery thing. Thats one thing that can lead to Mirko losing if his stamina is not good. And anyone who said Wand can KO Mirko is CRAZY!!!! Lets count the times Mirko has been Ko'ed:

1) KO'ed from leg kicks by Ernesto Hoost, Mr. Perfect in his SECOND K-1 fight! And in the third round! The greatest leg kicker on the planet had to work 3 rounds against a Mirko's second K-1 fight in order to beat his legs down.

2) KO'ed from Liver Shot again by Mr. Perfect, which is no surprise, its Hoost again, and that was because Mirko was injured in the fight and this was the finals of the 99 GP.

3) TKO'ed by punches from Michael Mc Donald, Mirko was really taking Macdonald lightly and was overconfident.

4) KO'ed by The monster whom he submitted later, and after that fight he learned his lessons about not being careful against ANY opponent.

He has fought plenty of K-1 strikers and good MMA stirkers and not been Ko'ed by them, including Wand the first time, Hunt, Igor, Sapp, Fedor...

So with that said, there is really no way for Wand to KO Mirko, maybe TKO him if Mirko gets tired and cannot defend himself, but Mirko's reaction time, standup defence and his experience in the striking game is too much for him to get caught and knocked out.

Same goes for Wand, I think Mirko is gonna take a Split over Wand.

[Bone_Crusher]

Cro Cop sucks!!

[JKS]

I think that the winner of the Wand/Cro Cop fight is gonna win the GP. I think that Cro Cop has a better chance at beating Barnett than Wand does, they can both beat Nog. Not saying that either fight is a easy win, not even close.

[AwesomeSerpent]

Originally Posted by Gumzo

So true. Beside Cro cop will lose to Silva. He doesn’t handle pressure fighters like
Silva so good. Look against Fedor, Cro Cop was running all the time and couldn’t
do shit. If Fedor could have used his right hand he would have murdered Crop Cop.
Look how Silva beat up Fujita. Pressure non stop punching. Cro cop could get lucky but I cant see it. Beside Silva has granite chin. And yes I saw the Belfort fight, shit happens. ;)

Right after I praise one post the very next oone is some idiot. CC was not pushed around the whole fight with Fedor you fuckin idiot and any other who thinks otherwise.

Crocop pawned Fedor in the standup the first round. He beat him to every punch and yes he did have space to move, and actually seemed pretty comfortable. He was used to fighting like that in some of his victories in K-1 against much bigger and pressure oriented fighters eg Hunt after he won the GP, Bob Sapp, after he beat Hoost twice.

The next two rounds were just fedor picking up his step, and CC gassing a little, which is why they went combo, TD, and control on the ground from Fedor.

[Banderlei-Silba]

Lol at the guy saying that Crocop didnt do shit against Fedor. Did you see Fedor's face after the fight? Yes Some Russian fighters get scared up easily, but did you see the shots Fedor took? You clearly are either blind or biased.

[Banderlei-Silba]

well it seems like there is enough people who agree with me that Crocop is gonna win this GP

[toothless]

hopefully, he will finish Wandy in the first round, because I think both Nog and Barnett have better cardio than he does. if he doesn't gas, I'm pretty sure he will win it all. he has the tools.
if he faces Barnett in the finals, he needs to be extra careful. Barnett looked pretty scary in his last two fights.
if he faces Nog in the finals, he needs to keep it standing and press the action. Nog will be alot more confident with his boxing and it might surprise Mirko. if he holds back and goes for the one shot KO, he may be in trouble because Nog will score more shots in the standup, IMO.
there are really two factors: he needs to be in great shape, and he needs to be aggressive. if he takes his time and underestimates his opponents, he could lose a fight by decision.

objectively, all three of the other opponents are more active/aggressive than Mirko. and they all have great cardio and chins. his only chance is to dominate both fights. he can do it if he wants to...

it's now or never Mirko! take them all out! no mercy, man!

[CA Sakufan]

I think that Mirko will win, I also think a lot of people here(sherdog)are vastly over rating Josh Barnett.

[Banderlei-Silba]

Oh ya, definitely. Barnett is underestimated. I think that Barnett has just of an equal maybe abit less chance of winning this than Nog.

If all these guys come in great shape, Crocop will win it.