NEWS:    1     2     3
 
June 13th, 2004
Mike Bencic is not longer Mirko's coach anymore. Mirko's manager, Mr. Lucic said: "I'm grateful on everything Mike (Bencic) done for Mirko, but it looks like that my fighter can't make any progress working with Mike anymore, and in front of Mirko are several fights which are crucial for his career. "
Crocop team is now looking for new coach
May 23rd, 2004
Mirko won by judge decision (3-0) over Hiromitsu Kanehara
Post-fight interview with Mirko here (real media)
May 20th, 2004
Mirko departured for Japan this morning.
May 13th, 2004
The President of DSE, Mr Sakakibara, said "Mirko said that he will fight without any fight money. After his first round loss in the Pride GP, he has become very hot to put things right. Mr Sakakibara said that DSE arranged this fight at Mirko's strong request. Mirko said that he will fight without any payment and he just wants to fight. However, Mr Sakakibara said that Mirko is a professional so we wont accept him fighting for nothing and we will pay him 30% of his usual amount."
Mirko is curentlly in Pula, training for the upcoming fight.
May 12th, 2004
Mirko is going to fight Hiromitsu Kanehara at PRIDE Bushido 3 tournament. Winner will enter Grand Prix as a replacement fighter.

   
Name Hiromitsu Kanehara
Record W-L-D 10 - 8 - 1
Association Rings Japan
Height 5'10 (178cm)
Weight 200lbs (91kg)
Style Rings Submission Fighting
Birth Date 10/5/1970
Country Japan
   
 
April 29th, 2004
There is still a chance for Mirko to enter Grand Prix. Mirko asked PRIDE to give him another chance May 23rd at Bushido event. Winner would be a reserve for GP and it would fight if someone from current 8 fighters quits due to injury. His opponent would probably be Ron Waterman which Mirko fought February 1st.
 
April 25th, 2004
Mirko feels OK, he hasn't suffered any major injuries.
April 25th, 2004
Mirko lost in 1st round after 1:57 by KO.
During the ref check Randleman was staring at Mirko from the ring. Not the typical Randleman at all. From the begining Randleman went for the tackle, though Mirko defended and was held in the corner. Randleman was only pushing though, and couldn`t take Mirko down so the referee re-started them. It looked from here to be turning to Mirko`s typical fight, but when he went to throw a left kick Randleman landed a devestating left hook. Mirko went down. Kevin jumped on him and threw several hard rights from the guard. On the 4th punch Mirko was KO`d.
April 22nd, 2004
Mirko left Croatia today, full of confidence. He said he'll try to KO Kevin and that he doesn't expect an easy fight.
April 15th, 2004
It has been confirmed. Mirko will face Kevin Randleman in the opening round of Total elimination 2004, April 25th.
 
April 10th, 2004
Although it hasn't been confirmed yet there is big chance that Mirko is going to face Kevin Randleman in the opening round of Total elimination 2004, April 25th. Randleman agreed to the fight after "no one else would", and said he looks forward to the challenge. Undeterred by Filipovic's heralded striking skills, the All-American Ohio State wrestler suggested that he possesses the necessary stand-up skills to compete with the dangerous kickboxer.

   
Name Kevin Randleman
Nick Name The Monster
Record W-L-D 14 - 7 - 0
Association Hammer House
Height 5'10 (178cm)
Weight 204lbs (93kg)
Style Wrestling
Birth Date 08/10/71
City Columbus
State Ohio
Country USA
   
Career Highlights
  • Defeats Ebenezor Braga and Mario Socata at UVC 6 
  • Makes his American MMA debut at UFC 19 defeating Maurice Smith by decision 
  • Meets Bas Rutten for the Heavyweight title at UFC 20, but loses by split decision 
  • Beats Pete Williams by decision to win the vacant Heavyweight title at UFC 23 
  • Defeats Pedro Rizzo by decision at UFC 26
Background
Kevin started wrestling at the age of 10. He won the State championship in high school, wrestled for Ohio State, won the Big Ten Championship 3 times and he won the Nationals twice. He was on the Olympic Developmental program. Kevin's college coach and roommate was Mark Coleman and he now fights for Mark Coleman's Hammer House team.
Striking
Kevin Randleman trains under Mark Coleman, so he is a master of the "Ground & Pound technique. He is quick in the standing position, but prefers to take people down and beat on them with punches, elbows, and knees. Unfortunately he's not as devastating a striker as Mark Kerr nor as systematic as his mentor.
Grappling
He has been Coleman's protégé since he was a freshmen in college and became a world class wrestler. Randleman is a master of takedowns and dominates on the ground. He is so powerful and well conditioned that he can hold down the best opponents and often have his way with them.
Submission
Randleman is a "Ground & Pound" master, so he has little knowledge of holds, although submissions could possibly make him a complete fighter.
Strengths
Kevin Randleman is a tremendous athlete with superb conditioning, great quickness, and awesome vertical leap. He is a tough and confident competitor and often backs up his words with action. Randleman's relatively raw talents were able to score him the UFC Heavyweight title.
Weaknesses
When hearing Randleman one instantly thinks he is over confident, which he is to an extent. Perhaps Randleman's biggest flaw is that he overestimates himself and his ability to absorb strikes. Though he may be able to take leg kicks well, Randleman's chin has always been suspect which is evident by the fact that he has been knocked out on several occasions. As stated before, Randleman is not well versed in submissions which makes him a two-dimensional fighter who is unable to finish people off unless he is provided the opportunity to strike. 
Conclusion
He came in as Mark Coleman's protégé and even avenged all of his losses. Then as soon as he seemed to have become the man in the UFC, things began falling apart. Now Randleman is trying to rebuild himself much like Coleman did with Pride in 2000. Randleman was one step away from being given the opportunity to fight Vanderlei Silva for his Pride title but Randleman suffered a setback once again, this time at the hands of Quinton Jackson by way of a Knockout. We'll have to wait a see what effect the loss to Jackson has on Kevin Randleman's career and confidence.

mmarewiew.com
April 01st, 2004

A couple of days ago they had an interesting show on Japanese TV with Mirko, Wanderlei, Saku, Don Frye and others. They were competing in an interesting game ... they had them spinning in a special chair(kinda like the one for the astronauts) for a minute, top speed. When they let them go, they were supposed to walk straight for ten meters, as fast as they can, to a hanging doll and high kick it. The one with the fastest time wins.
It was hillarious, Don Frye was first... he was so dazed, he stumbled over to the side and fell. After they let Wand go, he stopped for a second, went forward and fell, face first. The crowd were laughing their asses off... Then it was Mirko's turn ... he walked very, very slowly on rubber legs, but was able to knock it down as soon as he came in front of it(still dazed). Saku was the winner – like the spinning chair had no effect on him, he knocked the doll down in mere 3 seconds!!

props to Marko S.
April 01st, 2004
Mirko will participate at the sixteen man heavyweight tournament, TOTAL ELIMINATION 2004, which will take place on April 25th, 2004 in the Saitama Super Arena in Japan. Mirko's opponent  is still unknown. Other fighters that are are confirmed for that tournament are:
• Fedor Emelianenko
• Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira
• “The Texas Crazy Horse” Heath Herring
• Kevin Randleman (there is a roumor that he will fight Mirko)
• Stefan “Blitz” Leko
• Sylvester “The Predator” Terkay
• Henry “Sentoryu” Miller
• Mark “The Hammer” Coleman
• Hirotaka Yokoi
• Paulo “Giant” Silva Cesar
• Sergei Kharitonov

March 02nd, 2004
During the Pride Bushido's behind the scenes on last Feb15th, the Pride Champion Rodrigo Nogueira Minotauro had a surprise at the Pride hall. "I was training when suddenly I was caught with a key-lock. I thought it was a friend messing around with me."
I cannot believe when I saw Cro Cop," revealed Minotauro saying that the Croatian was damn curious to know about his training. "We chat a little bit and he wanted to know about my training. I told him I was not training so hard and that I was hurt!," stated Nogueira, who is in Salvador training with Brazilian Boxing trainer Luiz Dória.
 
February 15th, 2004
Mirko won again! Only 2:12 minutes of the first round where enough to end the fight with TKO.
Mirko started to attack with low kicks, though Yamamoto tried to show that it wasn't hurting him at all.
Yamamoto attempted a takedown after catching a mid kick but had to let go after Mirko continued to punch at his face.
The fight was stopped here as Yamamoto gestured that Mirko's finger or something had poked him in the eye.
After it was restated Yamamoto quickly tried to take him to the ground but Mirko was saved by his quick reactions. At this point Yamamoto again stopped this time appealing to the referee  that he'd been thumbed in the eye.
Mirko seemed upset after this second stop and after another failed tackle he pounded Yamamoto while he was on the ground. He then repeatedly soccer kicked him much worse than he did against Waterman.
Yamamoto manged to somehow get to his feet but, unusually for the generally calm Mirko, he attacked with a passion and put Yamamoto down with a strong right hook followed by a left straight.

Thanks to (o Y o) from sherdog

Picture#1  Picture#2  Picture#3  Picture#4  Picture#5  Picture#6  Picture#7  Picture#8  Picture#9  Picture#10  Picture#11    Picture#12
Mike Bencic, Mirko's BJJ trainer, was KO'ed with a counter right hook right on the jaw after only 11 seconds of the first round by Mario Sperry. That is his second loss out of two fights.

Picture#1  Picture#2
February 13th, 2004

 Mirko Crocop Filipovic, a fighter-turned-member of parliament of Croatia, smiles as he gets a jab from Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wearing a PRIDE glove during their meeting at Koizumi's official residence in Tokyo Friday, Feb. 13, 2004. Crocop was elected as a lawmaker back in his home country in November 2003 after becoming a hero in Japan through his fightings in popular Japanese TV bouts .

February 10th, 2004
In recent interview about Mirko said: Yamamoto is tall and very strong. But i think my form is at highest level right now, i feel great and i think Yamamoto is going to end up like Wateman did.
Doesn't it concern you that he recently KO'ed Mark Kerr in only 40 seconds of the first round?
That shows that every oponnent in the ring is dangerous, Yamamoto is good, that is not doubtful and he deserves mine full attention.
Did you practice with Kazushi Sakuraba?
No i didn't, i feel sorry for that because i really wanted to practice with him. Sakuraba has eye infection so we didn't practice together because i was affraid that i don't get infected from him before the fight.
Mirko also said that he is spending his days training and giving interviews
One more big notice  is that Croatian fighter Stefan Leko signed 2 year deal with PRIDE. After he was banned from K-1 finals , K-1 organisers apologised for that and they offer him a new contract which he didn't accept so he signed for PRIDE. Contract predicts 7 fights, first one should be April 20th.

February 4th, 2004
On PRIDE Bushido II Mirko will fight Norihisa Yamamoto.
Mirko and his trainer Mike Bencic, who will be fighting Mario Sperry, are currently training at Takada Dojo.
 

   
Name: Norihisa Yamamoto
Record 6 - 11 - 0
Height 6'3 / 190.5 cm
Weight 220 lbs / 100 kg
Birth Date 7/4/1970
Country Japan
   

February 1st, 2004
Mirko strikes again, he won over 20 kgs (44 lbs) heavier Waterman by TKO after 4 minutes and 37seconds of first round.
H2O taked Mirko down immediately but Mirko landed few punches blooding Waterman's nose, Mirko was in closed guard. Waterman wasn't doing too much in the guard, just not letting Mirko do anything. Mirko was defending punches well from the bottom.Waterman tried to throw hammers but he gassed soon. Mirko escaped guard and he started to punch Watermans head, Waterman went down and Mirko landed few soccer kicks and referee stopped the fight.
We are currently in process of changing the servers so pictures won't  available on this site, we will link you to them.

Picture#1  Picture#2  Picture#3  Picture#4  Picture#5
 

   Interview with Mirko

   Interview with Waterman

  

pridefc.com

January 30th, 2004

Mirko arrived in Japan today. His time between two PRIDE's will be very occupied. He was recently interviewed by CNN and Fuji TV and he was invited to participate in Japanese political talk show, Mirko accepted that invitation.
Japanese media discover that Mirko is very big fan of Junichiro Koizumi, Prime Minister of Japan. Its very likely two of them could meet.
About Waterman Mirko said:"Waterman is big, strong, athletic and quality fighter. I don't underestimate him but i think he won't see round two".
Mirko will move from Osaka to Tokio on monday, where he will train in Takada Dojo with Sakuraba.
Mirko wanted to fight Minotauro February 1st, but that couldn't be arranged, than he wanted to fight Minotauro in opening round of Heavyweight GP but PRIDE promotors don't want it to happen that early. They will probably encounter in HWGP half finals in June.
One more news is that Mirko will act in a action movie called Ultimate 7, which will be filmed in Croatia.

January 21st, 2004
Mirko is also going to fight at PRIDE Bushido 2 scheduled for February 15th, if he comes uninjured from his fight vs Waterman. Between the two fights he will probably train with Sakuraba at Takada Dojo.

January 20th, 2004
On PRIDE 27 February 1st, PPV is February 8th, Mirko will fight Ron Waterman

   
Name: Ron Waterman
Nick Name: H20MAN
Record: 10 - 1 - 2
Association: Colorado Stars
Style : Wrestling 
Height: 6'2 / 187.96 cm
Weight: 250 lbs / 113 kg
Birth Date: 11/23/1965
City: Greenly
State: Colorado
Country: USA
   
Career Highlights
  • Defeats Chris Condo by TKO at UFC 20 
  • Goes to draw with Tim Lajcik at UFC 22
  • Scores a submission victory over Valentijn Overeem at PRIDE 24
  • Defeats James Nevarez by TKO at WEC 7
Summary:

Ron Waterman began his MMA career with his entry into the "Bas Rutten Invitational 1" event which was held in 1999. Waterman went on to defeat all three of his opponents by TKO that evening. After competing in the Bas Rutten Invitational, Waterman made his UFC debut at UFC 20 where he would defeat Chris Condo.

Waterman would compete in a total of four UFC events before following his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. Shortly after UFC 25, Ron Waterman was offered a developmental contract by the WWF wrestling association and it seemed as if we, the fans of MMA competition, had seen the last of the "H2O man". After more than two years of pursuing a career as a professional wrestler with the WWF, the "H20 man," has made the transition back into MMA.

A former All-American wrestler, Ron Waterman is believed to be one of the most physically gifted heavyweights in the world today. Even with all of the accolades, athletics are not all that Ron Waterman is about. With a masters degree in Administration, Ron was a High School wrestling coach and art teacher for nine years. In 2002, Ron Waterman became a minister and presently travels with a power-lifting team called "Team Impact" which is a Christian group that offers motivational speeches in High Schools.

Considering that his natural weight ranges between 260-300 pounds, Waterman often has difficulty finding opponents. Waterman hopes that MMA organizations will consider implementing a super-heavyweight division which would allow fighters such as Tom Erikson, Bob Sapp and himself the opportunity to compete in a division of their own.

Striking :
Ron Waterman will always be a threat when it comes to striking. At 6' 2" tall, weighing in at over 250 pounds and all muscle, Waterman is a big guy who possesses a tremendous amount of power. Although Waterman will often use his strikes to quickly take control of the fight, he frequently uses palm strikes only as a means to get an opponent down.
Grappling :
As a former All-American wrestler with outstanding conditioning, this is Waterman's greatest asset. Waterman possesses excellent wrestling skills and can easily control an opponent of the ground. For a man of his size, Waterman is very quick and displays great balance.
Submission :
Very rarely do you see fighters that qualify as super heavyweights using submissions to obtain the victory but Waterman is not your average super heavyweight. Waterman has some Jiu-Jitsu training and has obtained submission victories in both PRIDE and Pancrase events.
Strengths :
Raw power, size, speed and superb conditioning set Waterman apart from a majority of other fighters within his weight class. Waterman's wrestling skills and ground & pound abilities combined with submissions make Ron Waterman one of the most dangerous competitors in his weight class.
Weaknesses :
Although Ron Waterman holds an impressive record of 8-1-1 he hasn't established himself within any particular MMA organization. If Ron Waterman wishes to be recognized as one of the world's top MMA competitors, Waterman needs to secure a contract with PRIDE or the UFC which will allow him the opportunity to work his way to the top of that particular organization and face the best they have to offer.
Conclusion :
Although Ron Waterman has returned to MMA competition the question is, for how long? Ron Waterman has stated in past interviews that his return to MMA competition was due to the fact that he was no longer under contract by a pro wrestling organization. He has also stated that he may still pursue a career as a pro wrestler. Considering his age and his desire to return to pro wrestling, it is very likely that Ron Waterman will exit the MMA scene as quickly as he had returned. Either way Ron Waterman will be remembered as a tough guy with a heart the size of Colorado.

mmarewiew.com

NEWS:    1     2     3