MIRKO CROCOP
SN (the best Croatian Newspaper) made an exclusive interview with Mirko CroCop. Since it's in Croatian I will try to translate the most intresting parts of it.
Mirko usually doesn't like reporters but this time it was kind enough to let them in his home so they could do the interview.
SN: How much do you weight at the moment?
Mirko: "101 kg."
SN: Are you satisfied with this weight?
Mirko: "Very much so"
SN: It's August, do you know how many tranings you had this year?
Mirko: "I don't count trainings but I can say I had about 350 tranings this year"
SN: Are you ever tired of the same tranings every day - running, streching, weight lifting, tranings for explosiveness, sparring tranings,.. to such measures that you just want to say "the hell with it, I'm quitting"?
Mirko: "Of course. Sometimes it can get very difficult even for me, but what's the solution? To quit training would mean to quit fighting. Even the slightest relaxing in tranings can enlarge the risks when stepping into the ring. One who is not preapared is out."
SN: What would you say to your son if he decided to do Ultimate Fighting?
Mirko: "If he would really want it then we would train together. But I would rather see him not to go my way, because it's extremely difficult and dangerous."
SN: "What do you find the hardest, boxing or grappling traning?
Mirko: "Both are difficult but grappling is more exhausting."
SN: Before the WC (World Cup) match between Croatia and Japan we had an honour to interview the Japanese ambasador in Croatia who said that Japanese Prime Minister Yunichiro Koizumi warned him before he left to Zagreb - Croatia "be careful, you are going to CroCop land".. what does such statement from the Japanese Prime Minister means to you?
Mirko: "It means a lot to me and it sure is nice to hear such words. Yunichiro Konizumi is an outstanding gentleman. As he respects me I honestly respect him too and his country in which I became what I am now."
Then Mirko was asked about some less pleasant things where his name was involved in Serbian political matters which Mirko smoothly denied.
SN: OWGP is just behind the door. How are your preparations going?
Mirko: "I will stay in Zagreb until the 20th August. Then I'm going to Pula for 2 weeks where I will train with my friend Enver Šeparović, my conditional traning who works through the instruction of professor Jukić. In Pula I will have great backround and condition for my final stage of preparations. 4 great sparring partners are waiting me there, I paid big bucks for them and they are great, big career is ahead of them."
SN: Who will go with you to Japan?
Mirko: "the same squad with pr. Jukić and dr. Kapulica"
SN: Was the match against Yoshida the most mature so far?
Mirko: "Not all have seen this much this way. Some saw it differently, something like a joke. Unfortunately in Croatia everyone seems to know everything. I've heard all kind of silly comments. People seem to be forgetting who Yoshida is, they forgot that he's a great fighter, Olympic gold medalist. Because he's was wearing a kimono I couldn't kick that good because leg doesn't come back that soon after the kick because of the kimono fabric. Yoshida subbed many people with kimono, I had many problems with my left leg so I had to come up with a stragety which in the end decided the match."
SN: In the SemiFinals waits Wanderlei Silva?
Mirko: "I don't like him, he's the only fighter who I really dislike in PRIDE. He's weird, without character but he is an outstanding fighter. But I will beat him."
SN: "Who would you like to see in the finals, if you get there?"
Mirko: Doesn't matter. Maybe I prefer Minotauro a little bit although I've beaten Barnett two times. Match between them is going to be great. Minotauro is Minotauro but Barnett is in super shape this year."
SN: The relation with PRIDE DSE lead men was tense these past few days. If you couldn't come in to terms would you participate?
Mirko: "No, I would not."
SN: But surely you have other solutions?
Mirko: "Of course, alternative in USA which is constantly sending me serious offers. But I'm a PRIDE fighter, I know where I got my glory but that doesn't mean I won't go to USA one day"
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ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA:
Interview with PRIDE star: Rodrigo "Minatauro" Nogueira
By Denis Martins
Friday, August 11, 2006
MaxFighting: Josh Barnett has displayed interest to fight you?. Is this fight official for 9/10 Pride GP Openweight, and what’s your take on this fight?
Rodrigo Nogueira: If Barnett wants Minotauro, he'll have Minotauro. He knows this is not an easy fight for him; and the semi-finals are booked as is for a reason. Wanderlei Silva against Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic is a kind of re-match, and my fight versus Barnett is a match all fans want to see. Barnett wants to show that he's ready for everything, so he wanted to face a fighter with a huge name in Pride. He wants to beat one of the Pride stars, but it won’t be me.
MaxFighting: This fight against Barnett has been anticipated since 2002, when he challenged you after your war against Bob Sapp. But personally, do you have a strong desire to fighting?
Rodrigo Nogueira: I was ready to fight the other two competitors too(Silva and Filipovic). All of them are high-level fighters and we need to stay ready. Sincerely I think Barnett is a big mouth, he likes to market himself before his fights, but in a few occasions his comments have looked silly.
MaxFighting: Yes, he talked a lot before his two losses to Filipovic. However he grew a lot in his last fights. What did you think about his last fights?
Rodrigo Nogueira: I think his game isn't a good game for a guy as like Filipovic, even though Filipovic isn't a ground specialist, he dominated Barnett on the ground. I think Barnett was a little fat in his first pride fights and in the recent ones he has been in good shape.
Maxfighting: What did you think about Barnett’s fight versus Mark Hunt?
Rodrigo Nogueira: I think what happened was what I expected. Hunt is a tough fighter, he's a Pride star, but he still doesn't have experience on the ground.
MaxFighting: Can you study that fight to establish your game plan against Barnett?
Rodrigo Nogueira: Barnett is a fighter who competed in ADCC and his experience in MMA is larger than Hunt's one. We always can collect a piece of a fight to study, but that fight wouldn't help me much. As much as my fight against Fabricio Werdum would be to Barnett.
MaxFighting: Why so?
Rodrigo Nogueira: I had a tough match against Werdum, and I think Barnett imagines he's better than Werdum. But I faced a top BJJ black-belt in my last fight- I'm sure that fight will give him the wrong impression.
MaxFighting: Do you think you could've finished Werdum?
Rodrigo Nogueira: I sunk a good guillotine-choke in the half-guard, and I believed he had real problems freeing himself. The people who watched that fight can think that was a weak submission attempt, but I finish a lot of teammates on the academy with that guillotine. That submission was tight and he escaped. Well, the important fact was that we fought tough and we proved
That BJJ black-belts can fight standing too.
MaxFighting: You were a bit heavier in your fight against Werdum. Was it your intention to stay heavier?
Rodrigo Nogueira: My Boxing coach, Luiz Doria, had a plan for me and it was to make my punches heavier? The plan was to gain weight and train hard. Werdum stated I punched harder than Filipovic. So imagine hearing this from the mouth of a guy who trains with a striker of Filipovic's caliber.
MaxFighting: Pride has had its named involved in a few scandals in the last months. What are your thoughts?
Rodrigo Nogueira: I don’t believe them and if Fuji broke relationship with Pride, I think that the problem is with Fuji TV now. I think Pride has a huge name and the Pride staff can find another TV deal. Here in Brazil, Pride is a huge success; people aren’t fans of MMA watch Pride. This is a popular show and it’s not going anywhere?
MaxFighting: What are you thoughts on Pride in the USA?
Rodrigo Nogueira: They will be a huge success there and I expect to compete in the USA in 2007. The US fans will have the opportunity to watch the best show in the world.
MaxFighting: Your goals now now are Barnett and then the OpenWeigt GP belt, but is defeating Emelianenko Fedor your ultimategoal?
Rodrigo Nogueira: My main target is the belt, and if the champion of this GP has the chance of facing Fedor- I'll fight him. I'm focused on this tourney, and Fedor isn’t in it. I promise my fans that I'm ready for this GP and if the fight against Fedor happens, I’ll be happy.
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Heey alguien consiga una entrevista de wandy ya!! lo más nuevo jeje
Crocop muy confidente en su pelea contra Wand
Entrevistas a Crocop y Minotauro
Moderadores: moderador suplente, admin
Gracias por las entrevistas.
Sí, parece ser que Werdum le dijo a Nogueira que tenía una pegada (de puño) más potente que la de Cro Cop.
Dice Nogueira que su decisión de subir de peso fue por consejo de su entrenador de boxeo para que aumentara la potencia de su pegada.
Interesante lo que dice Nogueira sobre su pelea con Werdum. Al parecer el piensa que estubo a punto de finalizar a Fabrizio con la guillotina desde la media guardia. En los entrenos, dice Mino, suele hacer palmear a muchos de sus compañeros con ese tipo de guillotina.
Sí, parece ser que Werdum le dijo a Nogueira que tenía una pegada (de puño) más potente que la de Cro Cop.
Dice Nogueira que su decisión de subir de peso fue por consejo de su entrenador de boxeo para que aumentara la potencia de su pegada.
Interesante lo que dice Nogueira sobre su pelea con Werdum. Al parecer el piensa que estubo a punto de finalizar a Fabrizio con la guillotina desde la media guardia. En los entrenos, dice Mino, suele hacer palmear a muchos de sus compañeros con ese tipo de guillotina.