Eddie Sanchez - The Chance of a Lifetime

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By Thomas Gerbasi

If Eddie Sanchez is nervous yet, he’s not showing it. In fact, when you talk to the 24-year old heavyweight, your first reaction isn’t of a man taking the long walk to the gallows, but of one who is relaxed and confident going into the biggest fight of his life on February 3rd at UFC 67.

But this is not an ordinary fight – not for Sanchez, not for his North County Fight Club training team, and not for the UFC. This is the big one, and I’m not just referring to Sanchez’ shot at plastering his name around the world as a legitimate contender. The reason this fight has taken on a life of its own is because of the man who will be standing across the Octagon from the Californian at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Super Bowl eve – Mirko Cro Cop.

For the uninitiated, one now mythic quote from the highly touted Croatian should suffice. When asked of his kicking prowess, Cro Cop reportedly said, “Right leg, hospital; left leg cemetery.”

Yet for those of you who need a little more concrete info, Cro Cop – a former member of the anti-terrorist unit back home, as well as a member of the Croatian Parliament – has compiled a stellar 21-4-2 over his five year career, defeating (among others) Heath Herring, Igor Vovchanchyn, Josh Barnett (three times), Mark Coleman, Kevin Randleman, and Wanderlei Silva while fighting for the Pride organization in Japan. Most recently, he left Pride on a high note by winning their Open Weight Grand Prix tournament with wins over Barnett and Silva on the same night.

That’s a tough mountain to climb for anyone, yet Sanchez didn’t even hesitate when he was presented with the bout.

“I got the call saying we’ve got a fight, and my manager sounded real serious,” recalled Sanchez with a smile. “Eventually, in the middle of the conversation, he said, ‘it’s Mirko Cro Cop.’ I thought he was kidding me, but the first thing I said was, ‘hell yeah, I’m gonna do this.’ This is my dream come true. I’d rather fight all the top guys now. I haven’t been training that long, but I’ve trained hard and I’m ready for this.”

Sanchez also knows what he’s facing in less than a month’s time. He’s not about to back down though, and he’s well aware that if Cro Cop has four losses on his record, then he’s human.

“He’s a devastating striker; people say he’s the world’s best striker,” said Sanchez of his opponent. “It’s hard to take him down, so his takedown defense is really good too. But he’s got a suspect chin, so we’re gonna take advantage of that. I’m a humble guy, but I’m telling you, when I land that right hand, he’ll feel it. If I don’t knock him out the first time, the fourth or fifth, he will go down.”

It wasn’t that long ago that Sanchez was making his own Octagon debut as he took a fight with Brazilian Mario ‘Sucata’ Neto on short notice at UFC 63 last September. After a non-descript first round, Sanchez showed the right hand he was bragging about in pre-fight interviews and laid Neto out in the second stanza. Sanchez had arrived, and if there’s one certainty in all combat sports, it’s that everyone loves a knockout artist. Now, he faces someone with fearsome power as well, and if you were a betting man, it would be safe to say this one’s not going three rounds.

“I made a point in my last fight,” said Sanchez. “At first, everyone thought, ‘who’s this kid coming out and saying his right hand’s so big that he’d knock out any heavyweight?’ Well, look at what happened. And I’m not being arrogant, I’m just confident. Training with the North County Fight Club – Matt Stansell, Jeff Clark, Manny Rodriguez, and Jason Lambert – they give me the confidence as well, and with the gameplan they’ve got set out for me, if I follow it, there’s no stopping me.”

Sanchez talks like a fighter, and with an 8-0 pro record (with all of his victories coming via KO, TKO, or submission), it’s obvious that he walks the walk as well. But Cro Cop is a huge step up in terms of quality of opposition, and it would be hard to find anyone outside of the Sanchez camp who believes he can beat the devastating kicker from Zagreb. Other people’s opinions really don’t matter to Sanchez though, because when the Octagon door closes, it’s just two men and a referee. And despite performing in front of huge crowds in Japan, Cro Cop may get rattled by his first UFC appearance, according to the native of La Jolla, California.

“He’s coming in from fighting in Japan for quite a while, and it’s a different crowd,” said Sanchez. “The fans are what make the fight, and he feeds off the Japanese fans in his fights, just like I feed off the fans over here. But he’s gonna have to get used to it here. I don’t know if it’s gonna take one fight or one round or one minute, but I’m not gonna have to think about that. I guarantee that he will be thinking about it, and feeling the energy here.”

“This is just another fight for me,” he continues. “Him coming here, in the long run they (the UFC) want him to be the champ – why else would they bring him here? So I have nothing to lose, he has everything to lose. I put up a great fight against Mirko but I lose, I’ll get to fight another day.”

And say what you will about Sanchez and his chances against Cro Cop, but note the following: he’s got one-punch knockout power, which in a heavyweight is a dangerous equalizer; and he’s got heart, as evidenced by his March 2006 win over Wade Shipp, who put him on the mat twice (with head kicks no less) before Sanchez roared back to win via TKO in the final round. He also survived a major car accident a few years back that saw him thrown through his windshield. Then again, many say getting kicked by Cro Cop is worse than getting in a car wreck. But regardless, Sanchez is coming to fight, and unless Cro Cop knocks him out, he’s going to keep coming.

That means we’ve got a fight on February 3rd, and if Eddie Sanchez has his way, he will be changing his life substantially for the better on that day.

“Win or lose, it’s a big fight,” he said. “I’m gonna get exposure, and winning will open up another door. For me, a kid coming from North County, it’s gonna be a dream come true. It was dream even stepping into the Octagon the first time. To get the win over Mirko, I can’t even explain it.”

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