Crocop will be clashing shins with Pat Barry in UFC 115

Originally Mirko Crocop Filipovich is suppose to face off Ben Rothwell and Pat Barry will be locking horns with Gilbert Yvel but the UFC made the switch and paired the two former K-1 strikers Crocop and Barry in a co main event showdown of striker vs striker in which in my opinion has the potential to be the fight of the night in the upcoming UFC 115 Liddell vs Franklin.

This fight is a sure bang for the buck and I’m betting it on the war god Ares that this one is going to draw blood for his blessings. A deadly left kick to the head from Crocop still remains to be seen but for sure those vicious leg kicks that Pat Barry fires like a Howitzer cannon is also a guaranteed fireworks. Despite Crocop’s lackluster performance in the UFC I don’t want to count him out for this fight because I’m a huge Crocop fan especially in his Pride days where he decimates his opponents with his head kicks and yes I said HEADKICKS! Crocop is a legend of the sport and it’s because of his legendary head kicks that had those heads rolling on the canvass more than any mma fighter ever achieving of getting half of those in their entire career.

Since his transition to the UFC’s octagon Crocop has never been the feared striker that he was known for in PrideFC Japan. He seems to struggle in the cage and couldn’t pull the trigger anymore. Most pundits say it’s because mentally he’s no longer hungry or motivated compared to the hungry young lions in the likes of Junior Dos Santos, Cain Velasquez, and yes even Pat Barry. Pat Barry on the other hand like Crocop is an experience K-1 fighter and like Crocop he loves to hit hard and is probably salivating for a title shot somewhere in the corner of his mind. “I don’t hit hard, I hit scary” as Pat would like to put it. Pat Barry has 2-1-0 record in the UFC compared to Crocop’s struggling record of 3-3 so that would make Pat relatively a newbie in the UFC but it’s not much of an advantage for Crocop in terms of cage fighting experience. If we count in Crocops entire mma fights of 26-7-3 then surely he’s the veteran of the two. 20 out of those 26 wins is by knockout mostly if not all in devastating fashion (76.92%), 3 by submissions (11.54%) and 3 by decisions (11.54%) so the stats tells us that Crocop being a striker that he is still has a few submission tricks hidden in his sleeves (or should I say sporty Croatian briefs?) and Crocop has also proven that he can go to the distance which was evident in his classic battle with Fedor Emelianenko but lost to a unanimous decision.

Pat Barry on the other hand has an impressive mma record of 5-1-0 and he’s 5 out of 5 in the knockout department so that’s like 100% . But we don’t know if he has any submission skills or some ground game techniques if ever the fight does go to the ground which seems unlikely. Crocop though might resort to submission attempts like the way he surprised his fans by submitting Kevin Randleman back in Pride Shockwave 2004 with a guillotine choke. I’m sure Pat’s camp is prepared for the remotely impossible to happen which is Crocop doing Brazilian Jui Jitsu (He was formerly trained and coached in the grappling department by Fabricio Werdum who was a world champion in BJJ). Pat has to cover all areas possible not just the stand up game and he has to be careful of Crocop’s newly acquired ground and pound tactic as what Crocop have shown us in his last fight in UFC 110 which he elbowed and bloodied Anthony Perosh’s face like a mashed potato in tomato sauce. One thing we have to find out also is about Pat’s cardio in mma setting. If ever it does go to the distance (in which I hope not) then we will surely see if Pat has the gas to hold out a 3 five minute round war with the legend.

As for us fight fans particularly Crocop fans will always clamor and wish at the edge of our seats (or couches) that Crocop would somehow find the trigger to pull off his head kicks or probably cringe helplessly whenever he gets hammered by those sick leg kicks Pat Barry unloads after setting it up with a good jab straight combinations. As Pat said it about Crocop, “He is still the same Crocop … He is still as deadly as he ever was” so Pat for sure will have the mindset as if he is engaging the Crocop of old, the Crocop in his prime, the Crocop that struck fear in the mma world with his “Right Kick Hospital, Left Kick Cemetery” arsenal of death. Though I like both fighters but I’m certain only one is going to crash down hard on the canvass floor so who might it be? Crocop or Pat Barry? We’ll sure find it out on UFC 115 Liddell vs Franklin, Saturday (Sunday Phil time) June 12 which will take place in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada.