As with the main event, thoughts wander to which version of a formerly dominant fighter will materialize in the cage.  Mirko CroCop jumped the K-1 fence to graze on the greener pastures of MMA and experienced instantaneous recognition by establishing his pulverizing straight left hand and the infamous "cemetery kick" as weapons of mass destruction.

Brazilian hero Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira made another miracle in the form of an armbar after taking a severe beating throughout their war in Pride to hand CroCop his first loss in 9 fights, and Kevin Randleman landed a hail mary left hook after beautifully faking a shot to tarnish the Croatian kickboxer's seemingly invincible striking aura.

Mirko would eventually face defeat at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko and Mark Hunt, the latter being a spirited strike-fest where Hunt's concrete head and unrelenting boxing onslaught earned him a close decision.  CroCop finished his Pride career with a respectable 20-4 record, trouncing a plethora of established names in the process, such as Kazushi Sakuraba, Wanderlei Silva, Mark Coleman, Aleksander Emelianenko, Heath Herring, Josh Barnett, and Randleman in a rematch.

Mirko CroCop's career deflated when he jumped from the sinking Pride ship and signed with the UFC.  He devoured Eddie Sanchez in his first spotlight fight, and then was forced to choke down his own medicine with a monstrous head kick KO delivered by Gabriel Gonzaga, which to this day is still Gonzaga's only significant win amongst the elite HW echelon.  Check Kongo revealed his hatred for Croatian genitalia by repeatedly wracking CroCop with illegal knees downstairs, and this in conjunction with his height, reach, and top notch kickboxing repertoire proved to be a rough night for Mirko.  Alistair Overeem drew up the same blueprint by targeting the cup area with knees from the clinch, rendering a No Contest ruling in a fight many assume CroCop "would've lost anyway".

As with Belfort, I don’t find CroCop’s losses to be outrageous, but realistic.  Can rising star Junior dos Santos tackle the same task?  He certainly has the tools to, as he divulged in violent fashion against Fabricio Werdum by knocking him out of consciousness and off the UFC's roster.  This was the first real test for Junior “Cigano” dos Santos, and his successful step-up in competition lurched him up the ladder to the top rungs of the division.  The man is a killing machine.  He wades forward amidst swirls of ill-intended hooks, forcing his adversary to either engage in the frenzy or retreat to less hostile territory.  His clinch game is strong and rife with sharp knees and quick but hefty dirty boxing; which might be an area dos Santos will exploit considering CroCop's recent struggles there, and all the while he will test the Croatian's chin and mettle by drumming uppercuts and short hooks through his defense. CroCop is shorter and smaller in stature, so he will have to abandon his transparent and one-dimensional strategy of throwing one or two strikes while backpedaling away.  Although he needs to steer clear of being backed against the cage and mangled in the clinch or exchanging toe-to-toe, he will have to string together more creative combinations to set up his bread and butter left straight and left high kick, instead of relying on them solely and in singular fashion.  Its going to be difficult for CroCop to be effective in close range due to the abundant and fight-ending capability of dos Santos' punches, but he sure as hell isn't going to take him down and submit him, so with calculated footwork he must threaten either with either a higher volume of strikes or engage more frequently than he's done recently, and keep dos Santos at bay with quick leg kicks and well-timed counterstriking. Mirko's strategy in Pride where he could calmly walk down his opponents and turn the lights off with one punch or kick is in need of immediate revision; in fact, it is dos Santos who will stalk and remain poised to teleport two inches from Mirko's face while hurling haymakers at the drop of a hat.  Avoiding a brawl and assuming the role of the highly decorated kickboxer will be the key for CroCop.  If he can draw upon his experience, superior head movement, technical footwork, and in concert attack with combinations from his high-polished collection of fluent strikes, he has a great chance of frustrating the headhunting Brazilian and tiring him in the later rounds that will be foreign to him, as dos Santos has only been past the first round once in his nine fights.  My head says that dos Santos is another horrible match-up for CroCop, but "Cigano" is still a bit unproven, and I'm going to stay loyal and stick with a favorite in the hopes that the old guard are not entirely extinct in MMA.  My guess:  CroCop by TKO

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