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"I don't know if he's ever really lost his step. I just think the fighters now in the UFC are just a little bit more aggressive than the fighters in PRIDE. Studying game on him, I noticed that guys that back away from him and give him that respect, it seems like they get unleashed on a little harder than the guys that come forward... I think Cro Cop has a good sprawl, he has a good double underhooks. I think if I were to try to just drop and shoot on him, he would stop my shot. I think standing up with him is actually the route to go at first and then eventually when you work in the clinch, going to the ground is obviously a lot easier to do with him than Nogueira."
Penick's Analysis: Mir standing with Cro Cop too long could be a very dangerous route for him to go in this fight, but should he successfully close the distance and get into the clinch, that will be his best shot at bringing the fight to the ground. Once it gets there, Mir should be heavily favored to finish from there. This is an extremely tough fight for Cro Cop, especially on five weeks' notice. How he comes into the fight and how Mir tries to go about getting this fight to his world will be the story heading in. It should still be a very interesting heavyweight fight.
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"There's still a large contingent of people, that they just want to see these guys almost die, or the other guy almost die and come back, and sometimes fights are like that. Certainly they are. But sometimes you get technical masterpieces too, and to hate a beautiful, technical fight - you're not really a fight fan...
Diaz has a granite chin, possesses perhaps the best recovery in the sport, his pace and conditioning are second to none and he sets records with the volume of his punches almost every time he steps into the cage. Nick Diaz is simply designed to fight the way he fights, and not many other fighters are...
"There was a lot of poison going on around there and I'm really disappointed because we had a good thing going. It was a good thing and I think people's egos got in the way. Well, not people just Javier, his ego got in the way, and too many cameras in the gym and him trying to build himself up and his brand, his AKA brand...
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