Mirko Cro Cop retirement

Legend.

https://www.facebook.com/MixedMartialArts/photos/a.126877474788.132572.50312224788/10155030421254789/?type=3&theater

* Edited at 01.04.2017, 4:53 PM ET *

I wish there had been some better competition in that last tournament, though.

king mo and Amir is pretty solid competition. 

**** fighter outside Japan 

@FightReviewer

King Mo is a 205er and Amir is still gree.

I still maintain that, at his peak, Mirko was the best HW striker of all time. 

We can argue who is the best striker in mma history and 10 guys can come up with 10 different answers. One thing not up for debate is he has one of the absolute greatest highlight reels ever. Scary ko's. Guys not moving for minutes after type. Two of my favorite ko's ever are wand and Igor. Throw in the Alexander one as well. 

@skell what's the competition for that prize?

The only people I can even think of is this list... meaning these are heavyweights that can strike or at least "bang" and have won a bunch of heavyweight fights.  And most of the guys on this list there's no way you could call them the all time best.

- Mark Hunt  *****
- Alistair Overeem *****
- Semmy Schilt *****
- Cro Cop *****
- Igor Vovchanchyn
- Gilbert Yvel
- A. Emelianenko
- F. Emelianenko *****
- Big Nog
- Pedro Rizzo
- Andrei Arlovski
- Travis Browne
- Gary Goodridge
- Bas Rutten
- Stipe Miocic *****
- Cain Velasquez *****
- Tim Sylvia
- Antonio Silva
- Roy Nelson
- Junior Dos Santos *****
- Stefan Struve
- Cheick Kongo
- Antoni Hardonk
- Brandon Vera
- Derrick Lewis

The ones with the stars are the only ones I think I would even entertain an argument for.  Of those I think you have to cross off Cain, since he's not a pure striker and his striking effectiveness comes from his continual takedown threats/attempts.  I think you have to cross off Junior since he's gotten beat down several times and he's more about athleticism than pure talent.  I think you have to cross off Stipe since he hasn't fought enough yet, even though he's knocked a lot of guys out.

That leaves:
- Cro Cop
- Hunt
- Overeem
- Schilt
- Fedor

I think you could make a decent argument for each.  None of them really stands out that far above the others.  You could cross off Schilt since he didn't really accomplish that much in MMA, even though he was an awesome striking machine.  And you could cross off Fedor since even though he's knocked a ton of guys out, as well as outdueling Cro Cop, he was really all about speed and timing, not about being a striking technician.

That leaves Cro Cop, Hunt and Overeem.  Cro Cop is fine, but I don't really like having to choose from this trio.  Each choice is flawed. I'd like a better all time choice to emerge!  Maybe we'll revisit in a decade's time and see what we've got.

* Edited at 01.07.2017, 1:49 PM ET *

Cain does not belong in that list.

Doesn't belong on the list with ***** next to them?   If you take him off that list, which guy if any do you argue should be added?

Cain abused and destroyed Junior Dos Santos twice, largely via striking.

@rappin

I guess it would depend on what your criteria is. Is it best striker to convert to mma or is best mma striking? Like I said, everyone would have a different opinion. I thought cain's mma striking was outstanding, but most of that was based off his relentless pressure and the threat of his wrestling. When the threat was taken away (like by werdum) his striking looked very basic. On the flip side, with mirko, when the threat of the takedown was greater, like in the cage, his striking was a bit more tentative. 10 different fight fans will come up with 10 different answers. And the thing is, none of us are wrong. 

Edit: unless you said Schaub. Then you would be wrong. 

* Edited at 01.07.2017, 2:12 PM ET *

I should say stand up striker.

Something I always liked about Cro Cop, even accepting the other names on that list, is how he was able to force his specific striking style to be effective against a range of opponent types. 

Dos Santos probably had better hands and Hunt was more unpredictable/tricky, but Cro Cop had a rare combo of that lights-out left head kick and a sneaky-good boxing attack. Nothing flashy with those hands, just straights ala the Wanderlei Silva fight. 

In this way, Cro Cop could do well both in a prolonged striking contest while maintaining that instant KO threat.

While Hunt and JDS are great strikers, I find that neither can adapt to a changing fight the way Cro Cop usually could. 

Fedor was great, but if you took the threat of the TD from his epic clash with Cro Cop in that match, I'm not sure those punches find their home. The threat of the TD kept Mirko a lot more stiff than I think he would have been otherwise. That said, Fedor had serious hand speed and timed Cro Cop's kicks very well.