http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2009/03/06/injury-to-frank-mir-forces-cancellation-of-ufc-98-rematch-vs-brock-lesnar/
Cro Cop, are you hearing this? Cro Cop would be a FANTASTIC replacement for Mir with Gonzaga already booked to fight tomorrow.
Cro Cop does sound like a good option, but sign him and throw him into a fight for the belt right away? What about Overeem?
Overeem has like three contracts on the go at the moment (K1, Dream, and Strikeforce). Strikeforce would probably keep him from going to the UFC right now.
You think they'd throw Cro Cop right in the fire? You think Dana knew about Mir's back injury, that's why we haven't seen anything about Cro Cop on the 99 card?
Yes, perhaps. The silence regarding Cro Cop has been ominous. There isn't much sense in giving Cro Cop another Eddie Sanchez type tomato can to knock over when he returns, so this kind of fight is perfect. He has a lot to gain by taking it, too. Everyone wants to know if Cro Cop is done or if he still has some fire left in his belly. This is exactly the type of fight to find out. If he loses in a good effort he gets a lot of exposure in the process and sets up good fights with Randy and Big Nog for the future. If he wins he turns the heavyweight division on its head.
I think Cro Cop gets steam rolled by Lesnar. I don't know much about Cro Cops ground game but his wrestling can't possibly as good as Lesnar's.
Dana said after the weigh in's that he hadn't heard about the injury and that he was trying to contact Mir's manager for confirmation.
Cro Cop thumped Josh Barnett three times, and Barnett is a great wrestler. He's also had success against Randleman and Coleman, who were both high level wrestlers. But nobody knows if Cro Cop is still that same fighter. There is also a good chance Lesnar smothers Cro Cop in the clinch... I dunno, but its an intriguing fight.
I didnt know Cro Cop had such success in the past againist wrestlers. That changes how I think about this fight, still Crop Cop isnt what he used to be.
Mir could be fucking around. Didnt he say that he was a fan of releasing fake info to psych out his opponents?
You can't have knee surgery then resume your training camp. Even exploratory surgery takes a few weeks to heal. If he did, he's out.
This fight isn't going to happen. Mir isn't going to risk having a flawed training camp in such a big fight. This means everything to him.
The latest has Mir's camp hoping for the UFC to postpone the fight to the summer, likely to UFC 100. The UFC could bump Rashad Evans' title defense up to UFC 98 for the headliner and let him face Machida regardless of tonight's outcome. Or, if Jackson is able to win and come out unscathed, ask him to jump back into training for a title shot.
The LHW division is the most talented and has some of the best fighters in the world, and its been that way for awhile. I think that title deserves to be on the line at UFC 100. Fuck that idea :[ I want Rampage/Rashad at 100.
If they put this fight on UFC 100 that thing will be stacked. I think they should just do it, have Matt Serra/Hughes headline UFC 98 and then throw a few other solid fights on there and you have a decent card.
Well it would be very hard for the UFC to justify giving Crocop a title shot over Gonzaga or Kongo who both beat him in the UFC. Randleman is a 205er (like 220), Lesnar is 275 pounds, as well I think Lesnar is probably more well rounded. Not to mention Randleman did KO Crocop. Coleman was 41 when Crocop fought him, and clearly lost a step. Barnett and Lesnar are very different, I think in wrestling ability (not submissions), I think defending a takedown against a guy as strong as Brock is probably harder than Barnett. However you have to give props to Mirko for having 3 wins over Baby faced assassin.
I like this idea. Maybe even make 98 a Spike card, and have Lesnar/Mir, Alves/GSP, and Rampage or Machida/Evans at 100. That'd be amazing.
