Couture vs Lesnar: Biggest Fight in UFC HIstory?

To call a fight the biggest fight in history before it's happened is sometimes presumtious and setting it up for failure. I hope not. I hope it doesn't end on a freak accident like Cote vs Anderson Silva. That out of the way, this is a big fight because it involves Randy Couture, possibly the greatest, odds defying, and charimatic UFC champ of all time. Anytime he fights, it's a big deal. Not just because of the above mentioned attributes, but because he only takes challenges. Nobody gave him much of a chance before he fought Tim Sylvia, Chuck Liddell (1st time), Gabriel Gonzaga, and the list goes on. This guy wakes up to fight mean guys he's not supposed to beat.

Enter Brock Lesnar. An absolutely huge person. So big his shoulders look like hillsides leading up to an ugly menacing face. He has no neck. Not only is he huge, he's fast and a wrestling force. He's only had 3 MMA fights (2-1), but looked dangerous even in the fight he lost. It's early in his career, but his sheer athleticism, speed, strength, and hunger may tip scales in his favor even against MMA veterans. He may very well be the face and/or champ of the heavyweight division in the near future.

Couture at 45 has been the underdog many many times. He's an oddity. He's never been out of shape in his life, he continues to study and learn the fight game. The Couture we've seen is NOT the Couture of 6 years ago when he lost to Ricco Rodriguez and Josh Barnett. Like I said above, I think Lesnar may be the future champ, but his time isn't here yet. Experience over youth and strength. Not sure how it will look, but the Couture machine will be prepared and survive the early onslaught of Lesnar. Lesnar will fatigue and get lost.

What Happened To Mike Brown?

Last night Mike Brown defeated Urijah Faber in the first round.  Impressive display of power.  It was a close fight that until Faber tried a reckless back elbow (ala Anderson Silva vs Tony Fryklund) and ran into a mean right hook from Brown.  From there Brown pounded on Faber until the ref stopped it.

After the post fight interviews, the camera shows Brown being helped to the dressing room noticebly in pain and holding his side.  I was expecting someone to comment on it today, but I've seen nothing.  If Mike Brown was able to break a rib and finish the fight and look and talk normal through post fight interviews, he's one tough SOB.  

The Ultimate Fighter Still Blows

I've dissed the Ultimate Figher Reality show on Spike TV before.  I've tried to watch it because I was interested in the coaches (Couture, Forrest Griffin, Rampage, BJ Penn).  However, I just could not stomach degenerate behavior and too much Dana White.  I stopped watching.  Many other blogger have had the same sentiment in the past, but I just TUF really fell on it's face last night.

From Bloodyelbow.com:

I realize Spike TV has to get edgy in order to get ratings, but this is beyond the pale. They trap bored young men in a house, fuel them with alcohol to their hearts' content, encourage them to find ways around their boredom but do not mind when these fighters act in such a way as to cause revulsion to anyone with any sense of decency.

From Fightlinker.com:

I wish that words alone could describe not only my physical disgust, but my intellectual outrage at the sight of such low grade cruel pranks. The animosity, the cruelty, and the blatant disrespect made me embarrassed to be a fan of MMA. 

On that note, what are some of the sucessful reality competition shows out there?  

I've been subjected to a some of America's Next Top Model lately.  As weird as Tyra Banks and her posse are and for a whiney and childish those girl models are, it is STILL a better show than what I've seen of the Ultimate Fighter. 

Tapout puts together a nice little reality show.  It follows up and comers in the sport of MMA.  It shows the day to day life of fighters, their training camps, and finally the fight itself.  Of course it's not competition show where participants get eliminated, but it's thoughtful and done well without excessive amounts of public urination and alcohol.  

RIP Elite XC

Damn.  I had high hopes for Elite XC.  They had done a few dumb and questionable things.  Not exactly anything any org hasn't done.  However, they really got under the microscope after their first CBS Saturday Night Fights.  It appeared obvious they were protecting their "stars", and lacked in matchmaking, and hadn't a long view.  Despite all that, they emerged as the only org capable of competing with the UFC.  They consistently put on fight cards on Showtime and 3 free events on CBS.  RIP, Elite XC.  

Rather than mourn, let's remember the highlights:

1) Robbie Lawler vs Anybody.  Dude kicked ass.  Stopped Murilo Ninja Rua and Scott Smith brutally.  Would have loved to see him against Joey Villasenor.

2) Frank Shamrock vs Phil Baroni.  Sure Baroni was tailor made for Shamrock, but it was an excellent fight and the first real fight we'd seen Shamrock in for a looooonnnnggg time. 

3) Women's MMA on the big stage.  Admirable.  The ladies deserve some of the pie from MMA.  There isn't significant money or sponsorship for women to fight.  They're there because it's what they want to do, much like the early days of MMA for men.  Gina Carano emerged as a huge star.  Elite XC was criticized for protecting her with tailor made fights, but there's something to be said in winning the fights you should win, and in convincing fashion.  

Other notables: Jake Shields, Paul Daley, Feijao, Nick Diaz, Yves Edwards.  I'm missing several, but what the hell.  I hope these guys find a good home.  Hope they don't face the Zuffa wrath of leaving.  

Brandon "The Hype" Vera

Results from UFC 89.

I got to watch some fights before heading out to party my ass off for a birthday.  The first thing that came to mind was that Brandon Vera's nickname needs to be changed from "The Truth" to the "The Hype".  He has looked dominant at Heavyweight against mid level opponents and looked mediocre otherwise.  No, defeating a post motorcycle accident Frank Mir is not a big win.  Tim Sylvia beat him, Fabricio Werdum beat him and that was enough to send him scurrying off to a Light Heavyweight.  

I gave him  the benefit of the doubt in his first LHW fight.  Maybe he lackluster performance was due to a hard weight cut.  Not uncommon.  But last night against Keith Jardine, he plain stunk it up.  He didn't fight.  He ran.  Granted Jardine didn't perform stellar, but he was pushing the action and deserved the split decision win.  And now Vera wants a raise?  Please.

EliteXC is getting a lot of shit for favoring their stars. Namely Andrei Arlovski and Kimbo Slice. Gina Carano gets notable mention.

But were we to think anything different? At the very beginning of the CBS broadcast, they featured Arlovski, Kimbo, Gina Carano, and Jake Shields. Nothing whatsoever about their opponents. It was very transparent and their actions before the fight are coming to light.


EliteXC has it's problems. It seems like they are making some huge blunders and may not be able to fight their way out of it. Some of it is just plain bad luck. We tend to stay on the negative outrages and controversies, but there things I do enjoy about it.

Benji Radach vs Murilo Ninja Rua was an awesome fight. Just fucking awesome! Both guys went for it. They were willing to trade and they traded HARD. Both guys went down at the same time twice. The second time, they hit the ground for some slopperknocker jiujitsu with some heel hook attempts. It's obvious these guys are well rounded. Second begins with Ninja kicking Radach's legs. Radach tentative and then Ninja overextends himself on a knee to Radach's head and falls. Radach hits Ninja hard, passes a limp guard and nails Ninja twice and knocks him out.

Carano was cool. She fought and beat Kelly Kobold, who she should have beat, looked decent doing it. It's still obvious that she can be beat on the ground, if someone can get past her striking. She needs to make weight.

Jake Shields vs Paul Daley was a throwback to style vs style days.  Daley had the sprawl and brawl style and Shields was the submission fighter with weak stand up.  

In November EliteXC's back on Showtime with Eddie Alvarez vs Nick Diaz for 5 rounds.  That's going to be an awesome fight.  Alvarez is going to explode out the gates while Diaz will start slow like always.  Hopefully Diaz doesn't get cut or get put in a position where the ref will stop the fight.  Diaz is tough and as the fight goes on, it'll be a real battle with the favor going his way.  If it makes it to decision, it'll be a very close if controversial decision for Alvarez.  Don't forget the normal Nick Diaz chip on the shoulder drama.  

How long have you thought Couture would lose his next fight against whoever?

BJ Penn at UFC 87

Find more videos like this on BJPENN.COM


Were you wondering what he had in his hand when he entered the cage to challenge GSP? Little hand held recorder that followed BJ Penn around UFC 87. Pretty damn cool.

Randy And Fedor Meet Again.

With Randy Couture and Fedor Emelianenko meeting again this week, it seems more like the two are buddies more than potential competitors. They both talk highly of each other and recently “...[Fedor] had both breakfast and dinner with Couture on Monday [8/11/08]”. There’s a serious lack of tension for two of the best heavyweights in MMA. It’s almost like they want to race their cars against each other or play board games rather than hit each other in the face. It’s just coldwater for those out there that want to recreate Ivan Drago vs Rocky Balboa.

I want to see this fight. Couture's a stud and Fedor is just a killer. I also admit that as time goes on, I wonder how Couture will fight at 45 years old. Also with Couture asking for $6 million, I wonder if he’s setting the price so high that nobody can host the superfight between him and Fedor.

She may be Crazy Corrie, but she's watched the sport for a while and doesn't gobble up the Dana White sound machine puts out. Steve Cofield's genius mind grabs her for an interview. 

While she's definately a chatterbox and passionate about the sport and it's athletes, I don't think she's crazed as labeled.

Thanks to Fightlinker for the Cofield interview.