Here's why I'm picking Kongo.
This interview with K-1 Trainer Ivan Hippolyte, brought in to train Cro Cop for this fight.
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- What was your impression after coming to Croatia and watching Mirko training?
"Mirko's a great fighter. He's mentally strong. But as far as striking is concerned, to be frank, its accuracy is much lower than it was back in his K-1 days. It's inevitable, though, because in MMA, you have to take him down, or avoid being taken down, and so on."
- So his striking has gotten rusty over the last four years?
"Yes. He is aware of that too. He talked to me about it, saying that he felt through his fights that he desperately needed better striking. His striking ability is 50%, or maybe even 20% of what he had back in K-1. But I say that in the context of kickboxing, and by the MMA standards and in that context, such as the transition from strikes to clinch that you see in MMA all the time, it's great enough. But if you fight in MMA, you have the ground game and such, which makes you forget the subtle techniques of kickboxing. I got to make him get them back."
- Mirko has four more weeks until the next fight. What kind of training are you doing now?
"Actually, we only have three weeks for training. I can't drastically change him in such a short time."
- You can't change him?
"It takes time to change things on a fundamental level, and it's not a good idea anyway to try to scratch his current style and restart from zero again. So the first thing we have to do is improve his technique level, and secondly, improving his cardio, conditioning."
Combined with the slow and sloppy sparring I saw on the vid versus Bonjasky. Even if Mirko was intentionally running slow because of fatigue or a subterfuge, I don't like the fact that he is dropping his right hand when he throws his straight left, bad mechanics.
Both fought 4/21, four and half months ago.
Mirko spent two months rehabbing the knee that was injured in the Gonzaga fight, so he had to regain the loss of timing and conditioning for those two months, then try to improve.
Kongo has had the full time to condition and train and I'm fairly sure that Juanito I. and Shane Mosley have taught him a thing or two to counter Mirko in tight and on the ground at Big Bear to go along with sparring Rampage, Vera, Bisping and the rest.
I don't doubt Mirko's heart or focus, just not sure that he's had enough time to work on his skills.
That's why. I would'nt be dissapointed if Mirko won, I'd much rather he did so.
