[Reavant]

Article on CroCop/Gonzaga

http://www.javno.com/en/sports/clanak.php?id=71207

This is the story: April 2007, Saturday night in Manchester. Gonzaga was getting ready for a fight against Cro Cop, one of the greatest Ultimate Fight names in the world. Gonzaga, a guy who very few people have heard of and very few gave him a chance (apart from Couture and UFC official commentator Rogan), shocked the fighting world. With a victory, but perhaps even more with the way of victory. -I cried at practices before the fight against Mirko. He admitted that much. But, the Manchester story, the one which I have heard is even more interesting. Gonzaga showed up on torn jeans and odd tennis shoes to say the least. Not because of fashion. -He was on the verge of bankruptcy; this was a fight for all or nothing. This is how he entered the match, as if this was his last chance in life- a member of Mirko`s team told me, who wanted to remain anonymous. A chance which he took. One round, one round was all it took for his life to turn upside down. Regardless of the outcome, Gabriel Napao Gonzaga was guaranteed 30,000 dollars and Mirko 350,000, almost 12 times more. This is what the ratio was when it came to motivation, but in Gonzaga`s favour. This was the Brazilian’s final chance to remain on the MMA scene, this is how he entered the cage. By the end of the evening, he became the man of the day and he earned 30,000 dollars of bonus for the knock-out of the evening. Also, he afforded a fight for the title next week (August 25) in Las Vegas and revealed how he got Mirko before this match. -The plan was perfect. Who must not run away from Cro Cop, you are dead then. You have to remain close to him, put pressure, be aggressive. This is what Fedor did and what I did. But, Gonzaga was not aware of the effect this defeat has made on the Croatian fighter. After he healed his wounds, we went on a “vengeance mission”. Best Thai boxing masters are at his disposal Dutchman Bonjasky, Yvel and their coach who has become Mirko`s coach in the meantime, Thai boxing legend Ivan Hippolyte. Jiu jitsu specialist Dean Lister is with him, the Dutch are returning again next week, the cage has arrived. And the motive is sky high. We feel sorry for Frenchman Kongo, he got in the way, and we can say with certainty, in the wrong time. He crawled into some hole, there are no spectacular statements, he is working and keeping quiet. He is preparing for London and is aware that Mirko is eager and can hardly wait for a new fight in order to correct the poor April day. But, at the same time, Minotaur cannot rest assured. He is supposed to be the next in line, a stop until the title fight and he has been on Mirko`s wish list for a long time now because of some unsettled scores from the past. Vengeance can be sweet. Recovery which was extremely painful, practices to die for, arrivals of many famous and good sparing partners in Zagreb, Kongo as the next opponent, London as the next city in line and only one person to blame – Gabriel Napao Gonzaga.