Rothwell vs. Cro cop – IFL vs Pride – Battle of the walking papers?
mmage original article
It sounds like every MMA fans dream match up! A former IFL Champion vs. A former Pride Grand Prix Champion but, no matter which way you look at it, Rothwell vs. Cro cop at UFC 110 could be the last time you see one of these faces in the UFC.
Mirco Cro Cop has been less than impressive since landing in the UFC – Only being successful in 2 of his 5 UFC career fights. The former K-1 and Pride wrecking machine has found it hard pulling the trigger in the octagon,though sadly he does seem to be doing well at pulling the trigger on his MMA career. It is far the Mirko Cro cop I once adored in pride when he came up with his infamous “Right leg, hospital; left leg, cemetery” quote. He went in to his last fight at UFC 103 looking nervous and less than enthusiastic when he met Junior dos Santos in the centre of the octagon and, to great surprise, Cro cop verbally submitted in 2 minutes into the 3rd round.
Ben Rothwell…I will keep this one short and sweet much like his UFC debut…All that hype, all that talk and he got flattened, demolished and embarrased at UFC 104 when he met Cain Velasquez. Now there is no shame in loosing to Velasquez at all but for somebody that spent months saying “I will punch Cain harder than he has ever been hit in his life and he wont know what to do” I found his efforts laughable at best. We can all argue that the Ref stoppage may have came too early but there is no doubt in my mind that Cain would of only ended up hurting him more than he needed to be…
If Rothwell looses this fight at UFC 110 in the same fashion that he lost at UFC 104 then I can only expect for Dana White to start questioning his place in the UFC. He is not a major attraction so he does not fall under Mr.Whites Pay Per View buy safety umbrella and I cant see anybody wanting to watch him fight again if this happens…
Filipovic on the other hand needs this win to stay in the UFC. There is no doubt in my mind, or any other hardcore MMA fans mind, that if Mirko fails to get a win at UFC 110 then his time in the organization will be done with. He has mixed up his training camps, got rid of his 99 year old “Mickey Goldmill from Rocky” style trainers and seems to be determined to get back to his old self.
Fingers crossed that we will hear alot more Duran Duran “Wild Boys” in the near future.
mmage - The Age of Rage 