Cro Cop imitates Tito Ortiz, starts making his excuses now

What do we make of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s admission that he won’t be 100 percent when he steps in to replace the injured Antonio Rogerio Nogueira against Frank Mir at UFC 119?

This is what he tells Fighters Only:

“I am aware that I am not going to be 100-percent for this fight because in this sport five weeks notice is basically last-minute notice. But I know the UFC had no other solution and so I could not refuse the owner of the UFC, who has made me financially secure, or the UFC fans, who I do not want to disappoint.”

He’s taking the fight on five weeks notice, which isn’t a lot of time compared to the 8-12 weeks a training camp usually consists of,  and it’s common knowledge that fighters rarely – if ever – go into a fight at 100 percent. The toll of training is just too great. But hearing the Croation sensation and former PRIDE terror admit as much, especially given his recent mental lapses, doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm or hope that he’ll take Mir’s head off (or even pose much of a challenge at all). It’s like he’s laying the groundwork for the excuse he’ll give after he loses. I hope I’m reading this wrong and we see some of the Cro Cop of old, but I don’t like to hear any fighter talk about weakness in such blatant terms, even if it is refreshingly honest.