Heavyweights Brendan Schaub and Mirko Cro Cop are reportedly set to square off on the pay-per-view main card at “UFC 128: Shogun vs. Evans” on March 19 in Newark, New Jersey, according to Fighters Only.
The matchup comes just one day after rumors that Schaub was pulled from a fight with Frank Mir to face Stefan Struve at UFC on Versus 3, while Cro Cop recently said he was planning to return to the Octagon soon.
Schaub (7-1) topped Gabriel Gonzaga in October for his third-straight UFC win after falling to Roy Nelson in the finals of The Ultimate Fighter 10, while Cro Cop (27-8-2) looks to rebound from a third-round KO to Mir at September’s UFC 119 that snapped a two-fight win streak.
The UFC 128 fight card is headlined by light heavyweight champ Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. former title-holder Rashad Evans.
For the latest UFC 128 news and UFC 128 rumors stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Pictured: Mirko Cro Cop
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Here’s hoping Schaub can put the sad end to that career to rest. Finally.
@dbiz -
Agreed.
Maybe I’m being grossly unfair to CroCop, but I haven’t really seen anything from him that makes me think he’s capable of fighting “Octagonally”.
Barring anything unforseen, this looks like Schaub by ref stoppage to me…
Its got nothing to do with him fighting “Octagonally”. He’s just too slow since coming to the UFC. Cro Cop of a few years ago would have crushed someone like Schaub unfortunately he persists in diminishing a great career.
Hopefully vegas will favor cro cop in this one so i can make bank on schaub just like i did with the gonzaga fight
So much for “Showdown Joe” having a legit inside source at UFC – LOL. The guys the laugher.
Maybe Cro Cop will go all out in this match-up. I wouldn’t count
him out of this fight so quickly. If he fights like he has nothing
to lose, it could very well be good night for Schaub.
It’s sad to see the great cro cop become a stepping stone for the fighters of tomorrow. Hopefully this will be his last fight win or lose.
I agree with SK, I too think CC will go all out in this one as he knows that if he loses he’ll probably be cut from the UFC.
Anyone know of why Mir & Struve were pulled from the matchups?….Possibly UFC setting a fight between Mir & Struve???!!!…….Would be an interesting fight considering their fighting styles I think it would be a pretty good matchup!
Mir would get a hold of one of those long limbs & snap it like a twig
Most definitely…
This fight is actually pretty good for Cro Cop. Shuab doesn’t have the same power that Kongo or others that Cro Cop has faced recently so there will be plenty of opportunities for Mirko to try his hand at the striking game. I think Cro Cop could very well win this one.
This is a huge fight for Brendan Schaub..A big name opponent that is very beatable..Schaub has to be stoked..I would imagine Cro Cop is someone Schaub has always looked up to
Cro Cop says that 2011 will be his year..this should be an interesting matchup
I’d love nothing more then to see Cro Cop land one of those head kicks on Schaub’s temple…this has to be Mirko’s last chance?
As for showdown joe…maybe he should get a little bit more confirmation before pulling the trigger on announcing upcoming fights. He’s respected alot by the fighters/dana, and has done a good job in covering mma for sportsnet. Sometimes Joe’s rankings make me shake my head though, (his current 155 rankings for example).
I’ll be cheering for Cro Cop on this one.
The biggest problem for Mirko CroCop is that his Japanese MMA fight style and decade-old training methods don’t match up well in the cutting edge North American UFC.
Schaub trains with the Jackson fight camp, who will be fully prepared on how to teach their guy to avoid the one effective weapon CroCop still possesses.
I know that CroCop is an exemplary sportsman, but he should seriously consider, or maybe reconsider, retirement, at least from North American MMA.
Ideally he’d end his career in a DREAM ring KTFO’ing some other one dimensional fighter…
oh I completely agree with you on your assessment of Mirko….I’d just love to see him knock out schaubb, that’s all.
given the absence of Lesnar, Carwin and Nelson have left at the top of HW div recently…Young guns like Schaubb, Struve etc. must be licking their chops at a chance like this to catapult in rankings. I excpect Schaubb to come out guns-a-blazin..I’m hoping he gasses or atleast blows his load in the first, giving Mirko a chance to land something in the latter (given he hasn’t taken too much damage). IMO, Gonzaga had some chances on Schaubb who looked rather tired in rd 2 and 3, but he was too gassed himself and had taken considerable punishment in rd 1 to really do anything.
Well if there is anybody out there that Mirko can land that head kick to, it might just be Schaub, but I see Schaub winning this fight via long drawn out decision. I don’t want to see CroCop as anybody’s stepping stone either, but this has to be a win big or go home fight for him. I’d like to see him win this fight, but I don’t want to see a win by decision for him, he needs a KO if he wants to continue fighting. Schaub on the other hand, has an opportunity for a big win even though Mirko isn’t what he used to be, he can see if he wins that he beat Mirko Cro Cop, and nobody will question it. BIG opportunity for him and a big fight on the line for him imo if he wins this fight.
sorry cro cop but start packing your bags now.1st round knocked.cro cop will hesitate as usual to through that leg.Brendan Schaub wont pay da same respect pat barry did n go for the kill.
My first ufc event and i get to see cro cop and a title fight….nice :)
war cro cop.