Will A Loss To Mir Signal The End For Mirko?

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Watching the UFC 119 preview show we were privy to some of Frank Mir's usual pre-fight posturing and trash talk, as per usual. A couple of things "Muuur" spouted out had me thinking, one of them being that he was going to give Mirko a reason to finally hang em up. The second was his dig at the Pride era of MMA in this tired old UFC vs Pride argument where Mir states that he wants to show people who thought that Pride was everything how wrong they were.

Firstly, Mir may not be off the mark when it comes to Mirko retiring if he loses this fight. Before his last couple of wins, Mirko was not the world beater he once was and we have yet to see him face a top heavyweight this year to gauge where he is really at. No disrespect to Pat "HD" Barry, but he isn't at the top of the division yet as tough as he is, and Anthony Perosh is no world beater. The win against Barry was a big one for Mirko however because it showed that he can still hang with the young guns in the UFC. Although Pat is a better striker than Mir, he has no where near the wealth of knowledge and experience on the ground where Mir will have a decided advantage against Cro-cop.

Mirko had looked to be on his way out last year when he couldn't contend with Junior Dos Santos after making his re-entry into the UFC with a TKO of Mustapha Al Turk. Could another loss put Mirko to the mindset he was in after the Dos Santos fight? It is very possible as Crocop isn't aging in reverse ala Benjamin Buttons, but just as any athlete who has competed as long as Mirko. If he cannot contend with Mir then the elusive UFC title shot he so wants will be too far from reach to even seem realistic. Mirko has not been the same since the knockout to Gonzaga and the American MMA promotion's talent may have passed Mirko by. However, Cro-cop did look good against Barry even though he was tagged several times. I still reminisce about the Pride days of Mirko Crocop and hope for a Championship run from the legend, but all that may be for naught if he cannot get past Frank Mir.

As far as the Pride vs UFC debate that Mir decided to bring up lets see:
Anderson Silva - Pride FC vet and current Middleweight Champion as well as the ranking of one of the top p4p fighters in the game.
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - Current 205lb Champion.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson - Former 205lb Champion and current contender at light-heavyweight.
Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira - Former HW Champion
Antonio Rogerio Nogueira - Current contender at 205lbs.

Need we go on?

In all honesty Frankie boy is just talking up the fight and trying to get those PPV percentage points, so you must take it with a grain of salt. On the other hand he did bring up a solid point in regards to Mirko retiring if he loses. Here is to hoping that we see Crocop continue on with the UFC and be successful.