Japanese fighter Satoshi Ishii (12-2-1) will face MMA and kickboxing legend Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ (28-11-2, 1 NC) at IGF 2 in Japan on August 23rd.
Sherdog reported the match-up yesterday.
Ishii is only 27-years-old and is a highly touted heavyweight fighter from Japan, an Olympic gold medallist in Judo and is now garnering a name for himself as a perpetual ‘legend killer’. Despite making his pro debut just four and a half years ago, Ishii has beaten the likes of Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo, Jerome Le Banner, ‘Minowaman’, Tim Sylvia, Sean McCorkle and Phil De Fries. He even competed against the great Fedor Emelianenko just 2 years after his debut but lost via knockout.
39-year-old Cro Cop last competed in November last year in a losing effort to Russian veteran Alexey Oleinik and is 1-1 in MMA since his UFC departure in 2011. The Croatian has also been competing regularly in kickboxing since leaving the UFC and is next in action at Glory 17 in California this weekend.
Alan’s Angle: I don’t give much hope for Cro Cop in this one, even if he was in his prime. No doubt it will be a massive payday for both fighters and Ishii will get another big name on his ever growing fight CV. I just wish the UFC would sign him as he is one of the top fighters out there not on the UFC roster and I would love to see how he would do against the best in the world.