Cro Cop: "He is dangerous despite being knew to MMA"

from Robert at freefightvideos:
The whole world wanted and expected to see Cro Cop fight Alistair Overeem at Fields Dynamite, however he is being presented with an entirely different challenge this NYE. Cro Cop will fight giant Hong Man Choi, a man still very new to MMA. His height is what has made him a dangerous opponent in the ring.

Cro Cop is yet to face Choi in MMA or K1. The Korean is 7'2" tall and weighs 330 pounds. Those numbers exceed even that of Russian boxing champion Nikolaj Valujev.

"Bob Sapp is little heavier than Choi but never the less much shorter. It was the organization's wish that I fight him and I take my orders from them," said Mirko.

After a successful career in Korea's national sport, a combination of Sumo and Wrestling, Choi made the transition to K1. He amassed a record of 17 fights, 12 victories and only 5 loses. He holds victories over the likes of Semmy Schilt, the only person ever to win three straight K1 World GP titles.

"A man his size is very dangerous even without MMA experience. He is skilled, relatively mobile for his height and very strong," explained the Croatian fighter.

Choi's record in MMA stands at 1 and 1. His loss coming the world top ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko exactly one year ago.

"He displayed his incredible strength in the Fedor fight. When Fedor got a hold of his arm he was twice able to simply shrug him. He had him in some difficult positions," Cro Cop said.

Cro Cop holds only one victory in his last four matches. Hong Man Choi is a must-win opponent for him. Should he be successful he'll need to recover from his numerous injuries and hope that 2009 is a lot more like 2006 rather than the past two years.