The case of the UFC and Randy Couture
by John McCarthy, The Fight Network
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Is the UFC doing to Couture the exact same thing he has complained about throughout his storied career, setting him up as the fall guy for the UFC's next big thing? Maybe, but you can't blame the UFC for setting up this match. Would you rather see Brock Lesnar vs. Cheick Kongo? No, and neither would I.
If there is one thing that has been clear over the last year, it's that Randy Couture does not have a lot of shelf life left in him. He is at the end of his career, like it or not. That was why the management at Zuffa was prolonging the legal battle as best they could. Time was on their side, not Couture's.
The longer things went on in the courtroom, the less chance Randy had of fulfilling his dream of fighting Fedor Emelianenko. The UFC was not going to be able to make that fight happen, and I still doubt they will be able to no matter what is said. It's not that I don't believe that they will try to negotiate the fight. I just have a feeling they are going to find the demands requested of them are too great for their taste and I am not talking about financial demands.
People tend to forget how hard it is to train at the age of 45 and not get injured or banged up so badly that you can't compete. The UFC understands that Randy's stock will only remain sky high until he has a bad performance so why not attempt to get the biggest return on your dollar by putting him up against the biggest name you have instead of the best fighter? If Couture wins, great. He shows that he is still a top-of-the-charts fighter that can beat the monster known as Brock. If Couture loses, you just helped establish Brock Lesnar as a legitimate fighter who, with very little in ring experience, just beat an absolute legend of the sport.
Either way I will be glued to my set watching what will probably be one of the biggest pay-per-view events ever for an MMA fight. Congratulations to the UFC for bringing an end to an ugly situation and getting their champion back. Congratulations to Randy for getting himself back and hopefully making enough money to make him feel respected by the management. Nothing and nobody is perfect, but you have to try to make a situation or problem as good as you can for yourself and everyone involved in this situation has done just that.
Member Comments
This is all in the name of publicity. UFC President Dana White knows that Brock Lesnar will bring in big pay per view ratings while simultaneously accomplish the task of legitimating Lesnar as a true MMA fighter. The UFC Heavyweight Division is ready for some new blood and Brock can be the one who infuses it with great excitement. However, he has to get passed the major brick wall that stands before him and that would be the "Natural" Randy Couture.
SlingDeals10/21/2008 10:27:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Lesner does not have freakish power he has the power of steroids. its obvious that hes been a juicer and as such its another reason not to care for him. hes a pro wrestler and he should be tested every 2 weeks until its proven hes off the juice. A decent wrestler in college but now that hes WWE'ed up its not fair to the regular humans who dont juice up to have to deal with his power advantage.
10/18/2008 13:47:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
was checkin this post and I have to say, I just checked out some Brock videos, tried to find the Mir tapout, couldn't but from what I've seen, Carwin vs Lesnar would be a battle of beasts!! I went to school where Carwin was a legend where he won his wrestling national championship. From what I've noticed, Lesnar has lost a bit of the wrestling skills and looks to rely heavily on his extra size to do most of the work but Carwin is a solid 285 himself and has to cut weight to make 265!! This would be a matchup where you take 2 national champion calibur wrestlers, take away the rules of a collegiate match and let em kill each other!!! If this fight ever happens my $ is on Carwin, he's smarter!! Either way, I realize Carwin doesn't have a name for himself and more money from pay per view would be Couture return vs ex-WWE but after this, I hope we get a Carwin vs Lesnar fight, it would be awesome!!
Djinndave10/11/2008 22:11:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
I think this will be a great fight, Randy is getting real old real fast but he still has the tools and heart to win, Brock doesnt have a whole lot of experience but he has such freekish power, look what he did to Mir and Heath with 1 punch sent them both stumbling backwards and down to the canvis, If Brock trains hard like I am sure he will he is a very hungry fighter right now you can see it in his eyes he has a real good chance of a major upset, Randy needs to make sure he keeps the fight on the ground and make sure he is on top, if he is on the bottom he will not last that long with 280+ lbs on his back for very long. I myself will be glued to the tv.<br /> At first I thought Brock was going to be a joke but when I saw what he did to Mir I knew he was for real. As for you that say if he looses that shows he not a real mma fighter, every mma fighter looses remember there is always some one that has your nimber if the fighting game.
driverdave2510/10/2008 3:44:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
What part of tapping out (GIVING UP)....crying "please stop Frank Mir from breaking my ankle!" translates into a "barely" win for Mir over Lesnar??
10/5/2008 21:28:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
im not the biggest lesner fan but reading what these haters r saying is laughable sopo /whitey i still think ur the same 15 yr old whos upset with lesner for leaving wwf, he definately has talent and brighteset future of all heavys theufc has, if he wins his next 2 fights no one can question that ,but it will take another year or so to lose the green in him, carwin is impressive but hes only a part time fighter who has beat no one, and for the natural, the dudes just old, and with a record of 16-8-2 or something of the sort it explains his journey
10/5/2008 7:36:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Carwin rocks but he's not quite as big as lesner.
10/3/2008 18:30:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Doesnt matter cause Fedor is better then both of them.
Shoogy10/2/2008 17:39:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
WHITE MAN- you are right that he is 9-0 but out of that record how many wins were in the UFC? also Herring had more fights than Shane and lost to a "green" Brock Lesnar...so experience doesnt always win. better trained dont mean crap...you can have the best trainers in the world but if you dont show up for training and apply the tools that are taught to you, then what good is it? also i was looking at Shanes bio and noticed that he hasnt really fought anyone special....that Mim Soo Kim was a joke but, he did have more than 9 fights on his resume. Frank Mir is the only one that can say he beat a rookie...barely. And Kimbo is the only one that can say he hasnt lost to any senior citizens as of late.
Big_Mcgrew9/29/2008 16:51:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
Let's see, Carwin is 9-0 and Brock is 2-1.<br />Who do you think is better trained and obviously more experienced?
9/29/2008 11:44:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
yeah just like everyone said herring was gonna beat lesnar....and also , when was the last time Carwin was in a main event? i have never even heard of the guy...actually i have heard of him, something about a prelim fight...you know, the ones they dont air on TV.........
Big_Mcgrew9/27/2008 7:06:00 AM(Report inappropriate content)
Carwin is infinitely better than Lesnar so Randy will be well prepared. Carwin is a real fighter with experience not just a pumped up name like Lesnar.
9/23/2008 21:48:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
If you were a fighter, you would know that wrestling endurance is NOT the same as fighting endurance. There is no threat of danger in a wrestling workout and no striking. If you want to test your real endurance try hitting the heavy bad as hard and fast as you can for as long as you can. I guarantee you won't last 60 seconds.
9/23/2008 21:47:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
good luck randy.<br /><br />u suck potleaf.
Giants49ersLakers4Life9/23/2008 21:00:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
randys training with an mma guy named shane or shawn carwin or something like that. the guys a monster. as usual randy is getting his game plan ready and i know it will be a good one im just not sure he has enough left in the tank for lesnar. hes young, strong, fast, and smart. cant see why anybody would think he would gas out? he hasnt gassed out yet and wrestlers are the best conditioned athletes in sports. if you try one wrestling practice anyone will agree.
Giants49ersLakers4Life9/23/2008 20:59:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
potleaf your a fool as usual. as far as pure wrestlers being boring, i agree but i thinkk 99.9 % of mma fans which i know a ton of between home, neighborhood, work and the gym, i know alot of em and we all agree the only thing more boring then a pure wrestler is a pure bjj guy. both arts are entertaining if you understand them but to the casual fan strikers are king.
Giants49ersLakers4Life9/23/2008 20:55:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
the only real chance Lesnar has is KO in the 1st or 2nd---after that, he will gas from Randy's pressure. He had an easy fight last time with Herring---just rode his back the whole fight. Won't be that way this time--major scrambles with Randy will eat up his energy quickly.
9/21/2008 19:59:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)
no matter how freakish someone is---it all comes down to skill--prepare to be awakened Lesnar fans--humiliation is at hand.
9/21/2008 19:57:00 PM(Report inappropriate content)


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