MANCHESTER – For years, Mirko Cro Cop had knocked

opponents out in devastating fashion with fearsome kicks to the head. Tonight, before a packed house at the MEN Arena, Gabriel Gonzaga gave the Croatian bomber a taste of his own medicine, sending him crashing to defeat with a single right kick to the head in the UFC 70 main event, earning himself a shot at UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture in the process.

“I trained very hard, mentally and physically, for this fight and I was aiming for the knockout,” said Gonzaga, now 8-1. “I had the opportunity and I took it.”

“I’m disappointed,” said Cro Cop, 22-5-2. “I will have to look at the fight and see the mistakes I made.”

Gonzaga came out of his corner determined to fight, and he immediately started tossing out rangefinding punches as he stood in the pocket with the feared striker. Cro Cop took his time while looking for an opening, but when he threw his first big kick to the body, Gonzaga was able to grab his opponent’s leg and take him to the canvas. On the mat, Cro Cop tried to keep his cool in an attempt to force a standup, but Gonzaga would have none of it as he fired away with forearms to the head, one of which opened a cut on the Croatian’s forehead. With 35 seconds left, apparently Cro Cop got a reprieve, but instead, he was sent crashing to the mat with a single right kick to the head at the 4:51 mark, throwing the arena into shock as the next challenger for the heavyweight crown was determined.

“I’m going to do my best to prepare for this fight and I’m going to try and do the same thing again,” said Gonzaga of his future opponent, the legendary Couture.

This time, no one will count ‘Napao’ out.

This has been such a strange year so far in MMA fighting. From the UFC buying the Pride Fighting Championship, to all the shocking upsets, this has definitely been one of the most interesting, and exciting years for the sport that I've ever seen, and I've been watching since the UFC's birth back in 1993. First you had Dan Henderson knocking out Wanderlai Silva over in Pride, then you had three upsets in a row on three consecutive UFC PPV's. First one I didn't look at as an upset, but most of the world seemed to be surprised at Randy Couture's utter dominance of former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia at UFC 68, making him a three time Heavyweight Champion at the age of 43. Then you had what I consider to be the biggest upset in UFC history, as Tough Enough 3 winner Matt Serra, knocked out the phenomenal George St. Pierre in the first round, to become the new Welterweight Champion at UFC 69. And then yesterday at UFC 70, you had the relatively unknown Gabriel Gonzaga, knocking out the most feared striker in the MMA today Mirko Cro Cop, with his very own finisher, the high leg kick to the head. :eek: It is absolutely nuts what's going on right now!! This sport is so exciting, and so unpredictable right now, I can't wait to see what'll happen next!!

This has been such a strange year so far in MMA fighting. From the UFC buying the Pride Fighting Championship, to all the shocking upsets, this has definitely been one of the most interesting, and exciting years for the sport that I've ever seen, and I've been watching since the UFC's birth back in 1993. First you had Dan Henderson knocking out Wanderlai Silva over in Pride, then you had three upsets in a row on three consecutive UFC PPV's. First one I didn't look at as an upset, but most of the world seemed to be surprised at Randy Couture's utter dominance of former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia at UFC 68, making him a three time Heavyweight Champion at the age of 43. Then you had what I consider to be the biggest upset in UFC history, as Tough Enough 3 winner Matt Serra, knocked out the phenomenal George St. Pierre in the first round, to become the new Welterweight Champion at UFC 69. And then yesterday at UFC 70, you had the relatively unknown Gabriel Gonzaga, knocking out the most feared striker in the MMA today Mirko Cro Cop, with his very own finisher, the high leg kick to the head. :eek: It is absolutely nuts what's going on right now!! This sport is so exciting, and so unpredictable right now, I can't wait to see what'll happen next!!


Funny I came on here just to check if you had posted something about the UFC and not to my surprise you did. Your right it has been an exciting and unpredictable lately for the UFC. First Couture making an Ali like return to the octagon and dominating Sylvia. Then I was stunned a couple of weeks ago with GSP's loss to Serra. I thought this would be an easy victory for GSP, I am wondering if he overlooked his opponent and did not take him seriously like he did with Matt Hughes. Finally, Cro Cop's stunning loss to Gonzalez on Saturday. Did you see cro cop's leg after dropping like a ton of bricks? I noticed it right away when he fell down akwardly , I am surprised he was able to get up and walk. I guess that's what makes MMA and the UFC so exciting anybody who steps into the octagon has a puncher's chance of winning.

I think the sport is also exciting b/c there are so many young and upcoming fighters to look forward to as well as the vetrans who are still sticking around and holding their own. There is alot to look forward to with the upcoming bout between Liddell and Rampage, I hope Liddell can avenge his earlier loss to Rampage. He is getting older but we both know that age hasn't stopped other fighters from still dominating.

I am also enjoying this seasons reality show with the lightweights, Nate Diaz is such a badass. I like him and Joe Lauzon to sqaure off in the final or at least square off. Also the coaches Penn and Pulver absolutely despise each other which makes the show entertaining. I look forward to seeing these two square off in the finale.

The UFC just keeps getting better and with the buyout of Pride it will continue to be exciting, unpredictable, and worth watching.

Funny I came on here just to check if you had posted something about the UFC and not to my surprise you did. Your right it has been an exciting and unpredictable lately for the UFC. First Couture making an Ali like return to the octagon and dominating Sylvia. Then I was stunned a couple of weeks ago with GSP's loss to Serra. I thought this would be an easy victory for GSP, I am wondering if he overlooked his opponent and did not take him seriously like he did with Matt Hughes. Finally, Cro Cop's stunning loss to Gonzalez on Saturday. Did you see cro cop's leg after dropping like a ton of bricks? I noticed it right away when he fell down akwardly , I am surprised he was able to get up and walk. I guess that's what makes MMA and the UFC so exciting anybody who steps into the octagon has a puncher's chance of winning.

I think the sport is also exciting b/c there are so many young and upcoming fighters to look forward to as well as the vetrans who are still sticking around and holding their own. There is alot to look forward to with the upcoming bout between Liddell and Rampage, I hope Liddell can avenge his earlier loss to Rampage. He is getting older but we both know that age hasn't stopped other fighters from still dominating.

I am also enjoying this seasons reality show with the lightweights, Nate Diaz is such a badass. I like him and Joe Lauzon to sqaure off in the final or at least square off. Also the coaches Penn and Pulver absolutely despise each other which makes the show entertaining. I look forward to seeing these two square off in the finale.

The UFC just keeps getting better and with the buyout of Pride it will continue to be exciting, unpredictable, and worth watching.

You know what was kind of funny about the Cro Cop loss, I wasn't entirely surprised by it. Looking at this Gonzaga's record going into the fight, and seeing that he had a 3-0 UFC record going into it, it seemed pretty obvious to me that this guy was definitely no push over. He just has that look about him. Some guys' have a look, and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, where you can just look at them and know that they're going to lose, but then on the otherhand there are those that you look at, and just know are tough S.O.B.'s. As soon as I saw Gonzaga, I knew he was going to be tough, and even though I picked Mirko to win, I actually turned to the person I was watching with and said: I have a strange feeling that Mirko might just get knocked out. I sure as heck wasn't expecting it to happen with a high right leg kick, but there you go. You're right though Cannuckkidd, it was really scary seeing the way CroCop Ackwardly landed, and I too was almost sure he was seriously injured. Even though he walked away, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that there was serious damage to his ankle and knee in the coming days.

The Georges St. Pierre thing was such an unfortunate loss for him, and I actually had to read the results a few times, cause I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. :eek: I do like to see an underdog win, but this was one of those occasions where I wasn't rooting for the underdog. St. Pierre seems like such a good guy, and a great ambassador to the sport, and it always sucks seeing someone like him losing a title. Even Matt Serra called him a sweetheart of a guy. I like Matt Serra, but in all honesty, I really don't expect him to hold onto the title very long. That weight class is just so good. I think St. Pierre will get the title back sooner or later. I KNOW we definitely haven't heard the last from him!!

I agree with you about the young guys in the fighting game today. The amount of talent out there today is completely insane, and will just keep getting more and more insane as this awesome sport continues to evolve. Just walking by the Quest gym everyday, I can see that, as there seems to be more and more people in there training all the time. I honestly think they're going to have to make that gym bigger before long, because it's small, and is almost filled to capacity each day as it is. The sport truly is blowing up like never before!!!

Anyway, thanks so much for your insight, and for responding to my threads cannuckkidd!! :) It really is awesome to see someone who is as excited about this sport as I am, and who is knowledgeable in it. I'm looking forward to talking to you about this amazing sport, and upcoming cards in the future!! Talk to ya later!! :D

You know what was kind of funny about the Cro Cop loss, I wasn't entirely surprised by it. Looking at this Gonzaga's record going into the fight, and seeing that he had a 3-0 UFC record going into it, it seemed pretty obvious to me that this guy was definitely no push over. He just has that look about him. Some guys' have a look, and I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, where you can just look at them and know that they're going to lose, but then on the otherhand there are those that you look at, and just know are tough S.O.B.'s. As soon as I saw Gonzaga, I knew he was going to be tough, and even though I picked Mirko to win, I actually turned to the person I was watching with and said: I have a strange feeling that Mirko might just get knocked out. I sure as heck wasn't expecting it to happen with a high right leg kick, but there you go. You're right though Cannuckkidd, it was really scary seeing the way CroCop Ackwardly landed, and I too was almost sure he was seriously injured. Even though he walked away, I wouldn't be surprised to hear that there was serious damage to his ankle and knee in the coming days.

The Georges St. Pierre thing was such an unfortunate loss for him, and I actually had to read the results a few times, cause I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. :eek: I do like to see an underdog win, but this was one of those occasions where I wasn't rooting for the underdog. St. Pierre seems like such a good guy, and a great ambassador to the sport, and it always sucks seeing someone like him losing a title. Even Matt Serra called him a sweetheart of a guy. I like Matt Serra, but in all honesty, I really don't expect him to hold onto the title very long. That weight class is just so good. I think St. Pierre will get the title back sooner or later. I KNOW we definitely haven't heard the last from him!!

I agree with you about the young guys in the fighting game today. The amount of talent out there today is completely insane, and will just keep getting more and more insane as this awesome sport continues to evolve. Just walking by the Quest gym everyday, I can see that, as there seems to be more and more people in there training all the time. I honestly think they're going to have to make that gym bigger before long, because it's small, and is almost filled to capacity each day as it is. The sport truly is blowing up like never before!!!

Anyway, thanks so much for your insight, and for responding to my threads cannuckkidd!! :) It really is awesome to see someone who is as excited about this sport as I am, and who is knowledgeable in it. I'm looking forward to talking to you about this amazing sport, and upcoming cards in the future!! Talk to ya later!! :D

Funny you mentioned that look about Gonzalez I was gonna mention that in my last post. I remember as he was entering the octagon and in the octagon he kept making this scary face (Im sure you know what I am talking about). Even when he won he made that face. He seemed cool and relaxed and when I heard Couture picked him to win I started believing something could happen. I am not surprised with the victory, what I am surprised about is how he won. He pulled a Cro Cop on Cro Cop. Karma can be a bitch. This guy looks solid it will be interesting to see if Couture can stop him. But as we both know anything can happen.

As for GSP your right this isn't the last we have heard of him. I agree Serra won't be champ for long when Hughes beats him and regains the belt GSP will win the rubber match between himself and Hughes and become the champion once again. GSP is a class act and an all around good guy just like Couture. I am not worried about him he is too good an athlete and MMA fighter to keep down.

The sport is blowing up like you said, Dana White has done wonders for the sport and the UFC. Making it more accesible through Spike TV. Remember when it first started there were very few rules and it was very expensive on Pay Per View. This was the only was to watch it. Now matches are shown on tv and sometimes Spike has the live events on TV. This exposure has made alot of young people take notice. I see it lasting for a long time.

It is good to speak with somebody who is knowledgable and passionate about the UFC. I will give you my prediction of the Iceman and Rampage as the fight approaches. Right now I am leaning toward Chuck. I need to watch more of Rampage's fights to determine how good he really is. Till then take it easy buddy! :D