Mirko Crocop is one of my all time favorites from Pride. I don't think he was prepared for the high quality of the fighters in the UFC. I also think it was a huge mistake for him to not have trained within a cage for his first fight.

That said, I hope he brings his vicious kicks back to the UFC! Go CroCop!

yay for Cro-Cop!

That's good news he's coming back. I think he had to considering how he's fought in his last two bouts. Cro Cop is better than that and I look forward to seeing him try and prove it.

I do hope he redeems himself in the states. I was hyping up crocop to all of my friends before the gonzaga fight, and they were deeply disappointed (not to mention I almost cried when I saw him get knocked out with a high kick).

I think Cro Cop has emotional problems. He doesnt like MMA. He loves kickboxing but I think he is a family man who realized that the money is in MMA and when the fit hits the shan he doesnt have the inner drive to dig deep. He makes up for it with talent. It takes a special challenge to kindle the spirit in him, thats his personality. He can only get up for the big fights (Fedor) and then he fights like a demon.

I think he felt he was lowering himself by fighting in the US and the US style of shows are very intimate. You walk into the cage and 5-7 camers are already there and they trail out from the dresing room all the way to the Octagon. In Japan the fans are quieter, respectful and their is more distance between the competitors and the fans. I think the spotlight of the UFC can rattle a fighter and thats what happened.

Cro Cop was unmotivated for his first fight. Gonzaga was, I dont know - I guess #%@? happens, and Kongo is a match for Cro Cop in kickboxing, so that wasnt a huge shock

I hope he does well, he is enormously talented and I hate the way the UFC treats fighters. Fedor is the smartest fghter on earth. He is building a rival to the UFC and hes going to build it up with the Japanese,Korean,Russian talent pool and he'll snag the Americans who gott left behind

Most MMA fighters have emotional problems. look at the ups and downs of Couture's career. I think the shows in Japan are at least as overwhelming as UFC. Pride Shockwave had almost 100,000 people in attendance. That is insane!

Mirko went through a bad period in Pride too, getting knocked out by Randleman... Gonzaga is a far better fighter than Randleman. Mirko's problem was he didn't train in the cage or with elbows for that fight. Those two things were Gonzaga's gameplan the first round.

As far as Mirko's 2nd fight, he should have taken Kongo to the ground. Kongo is the worst groundfighter in the UFC. CroCop would have humiliated him. I understand why he wanted to kickbox, but by the 2nd or 3rd round he should have instituted Plan B.

Mirko has a cage in his gym now. He needs some tune up fights. He'll be more focused and adaptable when he returns.