Jeff Sherwood/Sherdog.com
With Filipovic's takedown defense,
Overeem may have no choice but
to stand with "Cro Cop."
Height/Weight: 6’1/225 lbs.
Age: 34
Hometown: Privlaka, Croatia
Fighting out of: Zagreb, Croatia
MMA record: 23-6-2
By now, Filipovic was supposed to have lived up to his “Cro Cop” noms de guerra by emerging as sheriff of the heavyweight division. Instead, “Cro Cop” finds himself outside the top 10 rankings and has been all but written off as a legitimate force in the division. Not even Duran Duran fell from grace this hard.
The first step on any road to redemption has to begin with a win against a resurgent Overeem, the reigning Strikeforce heavyweight champion.
When “Cro Cop” is in shape, his combination of fleet footwork, crisp punching and atom smashing kicks make him one of the division’s most dangerous strikers. If he can create space to load up on strikes and use his quicksilver sprawl to stay off the mat, this fight is his to lose.
Height/Weight: 6’5/240 lbs.
Age: 28
Hometown: Hounslow, England
Fighting out of: Amsterdam, Netherlands
MMA record: 28-11
Most of Overeem’s career has been spent shuttling between the light heavyweight and heavyweight divisions with equally inconsistent results. At times a wonder of aesthetically pleasing violence and at others a gassed wreck, Overeem seems to have hit his stride by focusing his attention on the heavyweights.
No longer subjecting his body to the rigors of weight cutting, Overeem has made headway towards cementing himself as a legitimate heavyweight contender. Impressive showings against the likes of
Paul Buentello and
Mark Hunt have many wondering if Overeem is ready to cash in his golden ticket.
Essentially Filipovic’s counterpoint as a kickboxer, Overeem is at his best when he closes the gap and uses the Thai clinch to break down opponents. What really separates him from Filipovic, however, is his surprising jiu-jitsu savvy.
“Cro Cop” has produced diminishing returns of late, while Overeem is one of the hottest heavyweights around and has the style to give Filipovic fits. In general, Croatia’s answer to Jack Bauer has never liked it when opponents get inside his kitchen, and that is part and parcel of Overeem’s style.
Watch for “Cro Cop” to rely too heavily on landing the high kick and Overeem to capitalize by changing levels and scoring with a takedown early on. For an idea of what will happen to Filipovic from there, just watch a documentary on the Nile crocodile and pretend the gazelles are Croatian.
Stephen Martinez/Sherdog.com
Yoshihiro Akiyama should have no
trouble putting away Tonooka.
Height/Weight: 5’10/185 lbs.
Age: 33
Hometown: Osaka, Japan
Fighting out of: Osaka, Japan
MMA record: 11-1
Already a premier middleweight, Akiyama can ill afford an uninspired showing against Tonooka, who has the name recognition of Milton Friedman on your average high school campus.
Let’s also not forget Akiyama’s shady past with gi greasing that turned him into a pariah in the Judo community and nearly earned him the scarlet letter treatment in MMA. The backlash subsided only when Akiyama turned out to be a legitimate crossover star.
A loss to an unknown like Tonooka may be all it takes for Akiyama’s fickle fan base to start looking elsewhere for a fighter to call its own.
A rapidly developing prospect with world-class Judo and a surprising acumen for striking, Akiyama is already one of the most well-rounded middleweights in the world. Given Tonooka’s seidokaikan karate background, Akiyama will hold all the cards once this fight hits the mat.
Height/Weight: 5’8/185 lbs.
Age: 35
Hometown: Japan
Fighting out of: Japan
MMA record: 1-1
This is your classic everything-to-gain, nothing-to-lose scenario for Tonooka. He enters this bout as an anonymous 35-year-old karateka with two professional fights and zero in the way of expectations other than to roll over and tap out the second Akiyama gets his hands on him.
Of course, the upset is no stranger to MMA, and Tonooka has all the motivation he needs considering his stated dislike of Akiyama’s Chad Johnsonesque egomania and the fact that the Judoka holds a win over his training partner,
Taiei Kin.
Nothing transforms your standard issue mismatch quite like a grudge, and Tonooka would like nothing more than to pound the Oil of Olay out of Akiyama.
Barring a sudden possession by the ghost of Rolls Gracie, Tonooka would be best served sticking to his guns and keeping this a kickboxing match. Obviously, Tonooka lacks the savvy to keep an elite Judo player from taking him down, but if Akiyama gets a bit too bold standing, he will play right into Tonooka’s hands.
While a win for Tonooka would make sense in a kung-fu flick from the 1980s, the laws of reality never favor a one-dimensional rookie over an all-world star in the making.
Akiyama is a competent enough striker to keep Tonooka honest standing, and as soon as this bout hits the ground, Akiyama’s combinations of strikes and submissions will put a serious wrinkle in Tonooka’s plan for revenge.
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