Napao: I have to win this fight

UFC heavyweights Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Cro Cop fight on UFC Fight Night 64 in Krakow, Poland, on April 21. Their first fight at UFC 70 in 2007 ended with arguably the greatest kick KO in UFC history.

The win was the most important of Napao’s career, allowing him to train full time. He went on to a title shot vs. Randy Couture. Cro Cop has not won two MMA fights in a row since.

It was a perfect fight, said Gonzaga to Mike Bohn for MMAjunkie. I didn’t make any mistakes, he made one and I landed the kick. I remember I was young, everything was new and I won.

Now Gonzaga has lost his last two fights, to Matt Mitrione and Stipe Miocic, and Cro Cop has returned after fighting in rings in the wilderness.

“I wasn’t expecting this fight,” said Gonzaga to Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting.com. “I knew he was still fighting, but I had no idea he was coming back to the UFC. But I’m here to fight anyone they want, and this is a good fight. I haven’t watched his fights, but some friends did and told me he was fighting well and winning.”

“He’s always dangerous, doesn’t matter how he looked in his last fights. Cro Cop is a great fighter, you can see how many knockouts wins he has in his career. I’m going to get ready, focusing on what I’m going to do. I’ll try to take this fight to the ground. I won’t let him use his best weapons.”

“This fight keeps me alive in the UFC. If I lose this fight, the UFC will probably… Everybody knows how the UFC works. Three losses, it’s rare who stays in after that, and I want to stay in the UFC, so I have to win this fight.

“My goal is to win this fight the best way possible. In the first fight, I took him down and worked there, and saw an opening to throw the kick. He wasn’t expecting that. I believe he’s expecting everything this time, but I will try to finish him with a kick, a punch or a submission.”

Cro Cop is 5-0 in rematches. Gonzaga is 0-1.

People like to look at the first fight and compare, but he’s not going to win again,” said Gonzaga to Bohn. “He’s still a dangerous fighter. He’s got a strong high kick still. He knocked someone out with it in his last fight. He’s still dangerous and a really good fighter. I need to fight smart to win.

I think that the way it ended cannot be reproduced. I’m not trying to land another high kick; I’m trying to win the fight. If I win, it could be standing; it could be on the ground. I’ll be ready to go wherever the fight goes.

I’m still trying to go toward a title shot. I need to win this fight if I want to do that.