Brendan Schaub To Face Mirko Cro Cop Filipovic at UFC 128
Posted by Mina Dimitrova (Contributor)Jan 1
After a possible bout with Frank Mir, then a possible bout with Stefan Struve, Brendan “The Hybrid” Schaub (7-1) is finally set to face Mirko Cro Cop (27-8-2, 1NC) at UFC128, on March 19, 2011 in Newark, New Jersey. The main event of the card is expected to be Mauricio “Shogun” Rua defending his Light Heavyweight title against Rashad Evans, although this has not been made official yet. The news was reported first by FightersOnly siting a source very close to the bout. The bout will be on the main card PPV televised portion of the event.
Schaub who is in the beginning of his MMA career will get a chance to fight one of the legendary and most respected names of the sport and a win for him will solidify him as a major up-and-comer in the heavyweight division. In addition FightersOnly states that he has expressed interest in fighting Cro Cop and now his wish has become a reality.
For Cro Cop this is a chance to rebound from his loss to Frank Mir at UFC 119, where he lost in the 3rd round via KO by knee. For Cro Cop this is one of two fights he has left on his UFC contract. There has been much speculation about him retiring and about his physical ability not being what MMA fans have witnessed in the past and have come to expect from him.
Brendan Schaub has done extremely well for himself this past year, going 3-0 with two TKO’s. His only loss was in December 2009 at UFC TUF 10 season finale against Roy Nelson. Cro Cop on the other hand has had much trouble in the UFC since arriving in 2007, going only 4-4.
Overall the fight looks to be a good match up and is intriguing enough to raise much speculation and media attention about what the outcome will be at the UFC128 card all the way until March, 2011. With the possible Shogun vs. Rashad main bout it does have the potential to stir up enough buzz to raise higher interest in the event and with that always comes the inevitable higher viewership that Dana is always looking after.
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