Will the Mirko Cro Cop Of Old Show Up At UFC 103 Against Junior Dos Santos

Aleksander Emelianenko, brother of Fedor Emelianenko, is 6-foot-6 with an array of striking and sambo skills.  But when he fought Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic back in 2004, a head kick followed by some punches left him out cold on the canvas after only a couple of minutes had gone by.  When Cro Cop fought Wanderlei Silva and Josh Barnett in succession on his way to winning the PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix tournament in 2006, he destroyed them both with strikes.  In the end, these are just some of the highlights of a man that has made a career out of devastating high kicks and pinpoint punches.

Now here are some of the lowlights: Losing a decision to Cheick Kongo and getting knocked out in the worst way by Gabriel Gonzaga.  Both of these fights, by the way, happened in the UFC.  So as Cro Cop prepares to do battle once again in the UFC, this time against rising star Junior Dos Santos, you have to wonder... Will the old Cro Cop show up?  And if he does, is that guy good enough to defeat Dos Santos anyway?

These are the questions on the minds of Cro Cop fans heading into UFC 103.  The bottom line is that a big win against Dos Santos in the greatest mixed martial arts organization on the planet would do a lot for his legacy.

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