Most people expected him to KO his next opponent fast and viciously. This is absolutely not what happened. From the beginning of the fight to the ugly end, Kanehara showed the world just how much heart a Japanese underdog can have.
Mirko hit Hiro with everything he had, and plenty of things nobody knew he had acquired yet. Cro Cop punched, kneed, kicked (of course), and even tried a few submissions on poor Hiro. There wasn’t much Kanehara could do, except valiantly get up every time he was knocked down. Mirko looked very unkempt and sluggish. He stood flat-footed and kept his hands down. He didn’t have the same kind of aggressiveness that he usually does, and his strikes seemed less powerful than before. He wasn’t throwing many combinations, and he didn’t really try to finish the fight. He even looked gassed at a few points during the match.
He did try a number of new things though. For one, you could tell that he worked on his ground skills a lot, as he handled positions very well, even attempting a key lock and a side choke. His Muay Thai skills seemed to improve as well, as he landed many effective knee strikes from the Thai clinch.
Kanehara didn’t really do much. He mostly just attempted to stand and trade with Mirko, as his takedowns were stuffed every time he tried. When the final bell sounded, the battered and bloodied Hiro could barely stand up. Mirko got the unanimous decision victory, but he looked very ashamed and almost depressed as he was leaving the ring.
Maybe he stepped back into the fight game too soon after his worst loss yet. Maybe Kanehara is just that tuff? Nobody but Mirko and Kanehara know. Only time will tell if the old Mirko will be back.