To retire
Sometimes the perfect recipe calls for knowing when something is done, pulling your dough out of oven at the right time, saying enough is enough. Mirko Cro Cop and Josh Koscheck have nothing left to prove. Their striking has become tentative at best. Devastating injuries and defeats have changed them as fighters. Relying on his wrestling, Josh has lost his last two by lazily putting his neck out there to be snatched up and choked. If a fighter is not even willing to do the basics maybe it is time to just stop doing it all together. Koscheck was a pioneer and as polarizing as he was, he brought in fans and helped build the current UFC. A veteran of the first Ultimate Fighter and a title contender, I’m sure he’ll always have a place with the UFC if he wants. Cro Cop has the chance to do what so many fighters don’t do and that is to go out on a win, not only that but a memorable win. In his first UFC fight he said the use of elbows was hard to adjust to. It was great to see Mirko utilize them against Gonzaga, the opponent that used his own left high kick against him. The finish was great, but everything leading up to that point was not looking good for Mirko. Gonzaga had the better wrestling and Ju jitsu and his ground and pound was starting to leave a mark. A come from behind win is great, but it means just that, you were behind. It felt like justice though, a comeback win, brutal elbows, and the first event in Poland. Life is not going to write a better script than that. Seize the moment and retire with a smile on your face and your hand raised instead of lights in your eyes and someone else raising you up.
