Creature vs. Creature: Pat Barry Will Annihilate Mirko Cro Cop

Once again, ladies and gentleman, it's time for UFC 115's edition of Creature vs. Creature. My colleague, Bill Jackson, believes that Mirko Cro Cop will defy the odds and beat powerful striker and world class kick-boxer Pat "HD" Barry, and I'm here to prove him wrong.

Now, on to the main event.

Pat Barry and Mirko Cro Cop are very evenly matched coming into this fight. More so than other analysts seem to think. While Pat Barry can take punishment, he can also give punishment like no other. Cro Cop has a veteran savvy that we rarely see anymore, and he is good anywhere the fight goes.

Both are good strikers; both Pat Barry and Mirko Cro Cop are K-1 level kickboxers. Cro Cop has been known for his kickboxing for the better part of the last decade. Pat Barry really didn't have a big name before winning K.O of the Night and Fight of the Night last October at UFC 104.

If there is any advantage to be had standing, it belongs to Pat Barry. When you think Cro Cop, you think either legendary sprawl, left high kick, or left cross. Not a weak array of prominent strikes, but very limited. Pat Barry can and will throw whatever seems intelligent at the time, and when he hits, he hits hard.

Not only can Pat Barry hit hard, but when he rocks his opponent, he swarms on them like a pack of wolves tearing at the throat of a bull in Alaska. In other words, he goes for the kill.

Cro Cop also has that killer's sense, but in this fight, he is less likely to get anywhere near that.

In the end, I'm predicting Pat Barry wins by second round K.O. Cro Cop's new training regime and training staff will prove to be a help to him, but in the end, they wont be helpful enough to stop the heavyweight freight train that is Pat Barry.

For Bill's take on the action, click here.