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Words like legend, superstar, pioneer, and ambassador are overused in the sport of MMA. The sport is so young, it is easy to overuse these words when describing fighters. Some fighters are one of these things, but there are only three fighters that are deserving of all these adjectives. (Please send your complaints to me at erichobaugh@gmail.com)
Fedor Emelianko. Chuck Liddell. Randy Couture. In my opinion, these are the only names deserving of that list. Without those fighters, MMA would not be where it is today. (I am aware of how many readers are right now groaning with disgust I am not putting Royce Gracie on that list. He was the first great fighter, but he did not stay around long enough to be on the same list as Fedor, Chuck, and Randy.) These three fighters not only put MMA on the map, they carved it into something it was not until they got into the game. They changed it in a fundamental way. They changed the way fighters fought and the way we watched.
Randy Couture may finally be retiring after his UFC 129 fight this Saturday with Lyoto Machida. I have compiled a list of what I think are the top ten victories in the career of Randy Couture.
10. Mark Coleman- Technical Submission (rear naked choke) at UFC 109: ?Relentless? on February 6, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. What a shame this fight did not happen in 2005 instead of 2010. At least we did get to see it. In this fight, Couture made Coleman look old and slow. This was a battle of UFC hall of fame fighters. Couture dominated this fight from start to finish. One interesting side note about this rivalry: Coleman defeated Couture in 1989 in a freestyle wrestling match at the Olympic Festival at Oklahoma State.
9. Maurice Smith- Decision (majority) at ?UFC Ultimate?: on December 21, 1997 in Yokohama, Japan where Randy won the UFC Heavyweight Championship. This was a slow paced fight. Neither fighter was able to gain much of an advantage, except Couture was able to take down Smith several times during the fight. Those takedowns and control on the ground were enough for Randy to win the UFC Heavyweight belt.
8. Vitor Belfort-TKO (strikes) at UFC 15: ?Collision Course? on October 17, 1997 in Las Vegas, Nevada where he established himself as the number one contender for the UFC Heavyweight championship. Couture was a HUGE underdog in this fight. Vitor was called ?The Phenom? for a reason. He was 19 at the time and was the UFC Heavyweight 12 Tournament winner. He was a Carlson Gracie black belt in BJJ with the fastest and most powerful hands ever in MMA. Randy Couture?s strategy was perfect. He stayed away from Belfort?s powerful left hand and used his wrestling to control the fight and wear Belfort down. Every time they were stood up Couture clinched again and took the fight to the ground. The fight was stopped around the seven minute mark with Couture on top due to strikes. Randy Couture had completed the biggest upset the UFC had ever seen.
7. Kevin Randleman-TKO (strikes) at UFC 28: ?High Stakes? on November 17, 2000 in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he won UFC Heavyweight Championship. In this fight, Randleman was able to take Couture down several times in the first two rounds. Couture defended himself on his back and Randleman was unable to inflict much, if any, damage. In the third round Couture tripped Randleman for a takedown and was able to get full mount. From there Couture landed several unanswered strikes and the referee stopped the fight in the this round.
6. Gabriel Gonzaga-TKO (punches)at UFC 74: ?Respect? on August 25, 2007 in Las Vegas, Nevada where he defended the UFC Heavyweight Championship. In this fight Randy was again fighting as the underdog against a fighter considered the future of the sport in the heavyweight division. Gabriel Gonzaga was younger and stronger and was a world class BJJ black belt. He was fresh off his amazing head kick finish of Mirco Cro-Cop. He was also considered one of the best strikers in the division. Couture picked up and then slammed the much bigger Gonzaga, breaking his nose. Couture dominated this fight from every position and even won the striking aspect of this fight. One interesting side note about this fight is Couture suffered a broken arm early in this fight, but was able not only to continue, but win convincingly.
5. Pedro Rizzo-TKO (strikes) at UFC 34: ?High Voltage? on November 2, 2001 in Las Vegas, Nevada where he defended UFC Heavyweight Championship. This fight was an immediate rematch of their May 4, 2001 fight. Couture made many adjustments to Rizzo?s style and had little trouble in this fight and won in the third round by TKO.
4. Pedro Rizzo-Decision (unanimous) at UFC 31: ?Locked and Loaded? on May 4, 2001 in Atlantic City, New Jersey where he defended the UFC Heavyweight Championship. This fight is in my top five all time fights. Couture wrote in his 2008 book ?Becoming The Natural? that he suffered so many leg kicks in this fight, he to this day has in indention in his left leg. This fight was a five round war with both fighters inflicting huge amounts of damage, which I, and many other observers thought Rizzo won. In watching the replay, you can see the surprise on Couture?s face when they announced the decision. If you have not seen this fight, you need to!
3. Tito Ortiz-Decision (unanimous) at UFC 44: ?Undisputed? on September 26, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada where he won the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. If you have ever watched UFC unleashed on Spike, you have seen this replay. Couture controlled Ortiz in every aspect of this fight and used his wrestling for multiple take downs and position control. Who has not seen the replay where Couture is on top of Tito and open hand slaps his butt? What a classic replay. This was a great fight in which Randy proved again he could dominate a younger fighter.
2. Chuck Liddell-TKO (punches) at UFC 43: ?Meltdown? on June 6, 2003, in Las Vegas, Nevada where he won the Interim UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. In this fight, Couture was again a huge underdog. Liddell was the best striker in the weight class at the time and was nearly impossible to take down and keep down. The event was essentially a kick boxing match. Liddell was by far on paper, the better striker and kick boxer. Couture won the striking part of the bout and then was able to take Liddell down in the third round and ground and pound for the victory. This is clearly one of the best fights in history of MMA.
1. Tim Sylvia-Decision (unanimous) at UFC 68: ?The Uprising? on March 3, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio where he won UFC Heavyweight Championship. After a year-long retirement, Couture came back against Tim Sylvia who was at the time the UFC Heavyweight Champ. Again, the underdog to a much younger and larger fighter, no one gave Couture much of a chance. Tim Sylvia is six feet eight inches and was the elite of the division?s strikers at that time. Ten seconds into the first round Randy landed a right that sent Sylvia to the ground. From that point on, Couture controlled every aspect of the fight. He out struck the striker and was able to take Sylvia down at will. He used his dirty boxing, wrestling and ground and pound to earn the victory. At 43, Randy Couture became the oldest champion in UFC history. This is my all-time favorite fight.
If his fight this Saturday is his last, I will be sad not to see ?Captain America? fight again. It will be refreshing to see a fighter retiring and walking away from the sport on his own terms. At 47, he has nothing left to prove. He won five UFC Championships, an Interim world title, the UFC 13 Heavyweight championship and is in the UFC Hall Of Fame.
Time and time again he proved so many of his doubters wrong . He says that whether or not he wins, he will retire. I agree with that and think it is time for him to put the gloves away. I keep reading the ?experts? online saying Randy Couture has no chance to win at UFC 129. I have picked against him many times myself and many of those times I have been wrong. I have been wrong so many times, I will not make that mistake in this fight.
My Prediction: I see Randy Couture winning in his fight against Lyoto Machida by decision. If Couture can close the distance and use his dirty boxing and Greco Roman Wrestling skills, he should be able to take Machida down. Couture will do this and win a close decision.
[Randy Couture art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]
Marcio Pe de Pano Cruz Luke Cummo Jeff Big Frog Curran Dai Shuanghai Mac Danzig Karen Darabedyan
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