UFC 57: Couture vs Liddell III

[Guest Brian]

A bunch of transcripts from interviews are making the rounds so I can do a cut and paste job. This was stolen from WO.com:

 

Between The Ropes

Wednesday, February 1, 2006

Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team

Simulcast online at BetweenTheRopes.com

 

On Wednesday night, February 1, UFC legend Randy "The Natural" Couture joined hosts Brian Fritz, Dickerman, and Vito DeNucci on Between The Ropes on Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team on the eve of his showdown with Chuck Liddell for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title this Saturday night at UFC 57. The interview was taped last Friday, January 28.

 

Randy started off talking about the rubber match between he and Liddell this Saturday night. He pointed out that the notoriety from being competing coaches on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter has probably helped pique the interest in their rivalry to a greater audience heading into this third fight.

 

When asked about being poked in the eye in his loss to Liddell in their last fight, Couture commented, "It didn't really affect my vision. It affected my composure a little bit. It kind of irritated me and kind of threw the game plan out the window. I chased Chuck and went after him a little too hard and put myself in bad positions."

 

Couture said his game plan this time around against Liddell is similar to their previous fights. He wants to put pressure on Chuck and force him to work and try to get him on the ground as many times as possible. He discussed Chuck's strengths, namely his one-punch knockout power. He believes Chuck has underrated wrestling skills and notes his ability to get up off the ground and get a fight back to his strength in the stand up position.

 

Asked about his training, Randy stated, "Training has been terrific. I spent a couple of weeks in Colorado and trained up at altitude. I just spent a week with Andrei Arlovski here in Vegas and had some great training sessions with him. Heath Herring lives here in Vegas now. He's come in a few times. Frank Mir has been in a few times. I train regularly with Forest Griffin, Alex Schoenauer, Mike Pyle, John Wood, Chris Tremel, and a bunch of other guys here in Vegas that are fighters. We got a pretty good little crew together."

 

He added that Arlovski will be in his corner against Chuck on Saturday night.

 

Randy confirmed reports that he has signed a new three-fight deal with UFC. His showdown with Liddell will be the first of the three bouts. He noted that he has nothing left to prove and just loves the sport and wants to be a part of it as it explodes. He hasn't even considered who he would like to fight next with his focus solely on Chuck Liddell.

 

Couture spoke about his work as a coach of the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. He considered it an awesome experience. He enjoyed coaching and learned a lot himself from breaking down technique and imparting it to others. He learned some new technique from working with the assistant coaches on the show as well. He said the kids were enthusiastic and determined and some will likely be the future of the sport.

 

"I've always been impressed with Chris Leben. He's not a real technical fighter, but I just love his spirit and he goes out and gets the job done in any way, shape, or form he needs to. I think that Forest Griffin is very impressive. Stephan Bonnar was one of my picks to win the show and I like the way he fights. He's a great fighter. Diego Sanchez is really maturing as a fighter and seeing him kind of come into his own. He just beat Nick Diaz which was kind of a big step up for him. There's a lot of great guys that came out of that first season."

 

Randy said he is looking forward to the next season of the show with Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock as coaches. He said he knows a young fighter from Oregon that will be part of the show and he's interested in seeing how he does. He's also interested in seeing what kind of talent emerges from the 205 lbs. weight class on the show.

 

He said The Ultimate Fighter show has done a great job in breaking down the misconceptions of the UFC. People now understand the tactical and technical aspects of the sport and that it's not merely two thugs beating on each other. The show allows people to see what goes into making an ultimate fighter and they understand it.

 

Asked if he thinks the explosion of the UFC programming on Spike TV and the additional pay-per-views could lead to an oversaturation of the sport, Randy replied, "I don't know about an oversaturation. That's not something I've really thought about. It's still pretty new, nothing like football or basketball or some of the other mainstream sports. I don't know that we can oversaturate the market. I think we're doing the right thing. I think we're doing a good job. The more we're out there and the more people we win over, the better off it is."

 

The interview concluded with Randy's prediction for Saturday night. "I'm going to wear Chuck out. I'm going to hunt him down, put him on the ground a bunch, and wear him out. I think by the third or fourth round, John [McCarthy] is going to have to stop this fight."

 

To listen to the Randy Couture interview, including some additional comments on Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock on The Ultimate Fighter 3 and the kiss of death on Heath Herring, and the entire February 1 edition of Between The Ropes in streaming audio, visit the show online at http://www.BetweenTheRopes.com. Join us for Between The Ropes for two hours every Wednesday night at 10:00pm ET on Central Florida's Sports Radio 740 The Team and worldwide on BetweenTheRopes.com.

[Guest Brian]

And this one from MMAWeekly:

 

When Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture steps in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) octagon this weekend, he will have the opportunity to become a five-time UFC champion. Couture defeated Maurice Smith at UFC : ‘Ultimate Japan 1' in December of 1997, winning a UFC title for the first time in his career. Randy then left the UFC for nearly three years to compete in Japan. He returned to competition in the United States and the UFC in November of 2000, defeating Kevin Randleman and becoming the only two-time UFC Heavyweight Champion in the organization’s history.

 

In 2003, after losing back to back fights in the heavyweight division, the only two times he fought in 2002; Randy Couture debuted as a light-heavyweight against Chuck ‘The Iceman’ Liddell for the UFC Interim Light-Heavyweight Championship. Randy upset the longtime light-heavyweight number one contender and went on to become the undisputed UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion by beating ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy,’ Tito Ortiz, at UFC 44: ‘Undisputed.’

 

Couture lost his first title defense against Vitor Belfort at UFC 46: ‘Super Natural’ due to a bizarre eye injury just 49 seconds into the bout. He avenged the loss to Belfort at UFC 49: ‘Unfinished Business,’ becoming a two-time UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion. At UFC 52: ‘Couture and Liddell 2,’ Randy was knocked out for the first time in his career by Liddell. Saturday night, Liddell and Couture will meet for the third time. Couture recently spoke with MMAWeekly Radio about his loss to Liddell and the rubber match this weekend.

 

MMAWeekly: Randy, how are you?

 

Randy Couture: I’m good.

 

MMAWeekly: How is Las Vegas? Have you settled into Vegas now? Do you feel good about living there?

 

Couture: Beautiful, sunny Las Vegas. None of my friends in Oregon can say that right now.

 

MMAWeekly: No kidding. Do you miss Oregon, or do you just really enjoy Vegas?

 

Couture: I like it. I do. I like it. I like the weather. I never thought the rain would affect me, but I like being out of the rain. I just have a lot more positive energy and positive things going on here right now. It’s nice to be here.

 

MMAWeekly: I saw some pictures of you training with some guy named Andrei Arlovski. What’s that been like?

 

Couture: He’s a beast. That guy is a monster.

 

MMAWeekly: Does he remind you of why you’re in the light-heavyweight division now?

 

Couture: He definitely reenforced my decision.

 

MMAWeekly: What was that like? How good is Andrei Arlovski?

 

Couture: He’s phenomenal. I mean he’s just awesome. I had a great week with him. He’s coming back this Friday, being part of the corner for this fight. Yea, it was great. It’s nice not to be the biggest guy in the gym and somebody in your face pushing you, making you work your ass off and literally just beating me up.

 

MMAWeekly: Do you see yourself, obviously the light-heavyweight division has worked so well for you, but do you ever consider if I was a heavyweight, I could probably out maneuver some of these guys, or are you just comfortable being a 205lb. fighter?

 

Couture: I’m pretty comfortable where I’m at. There are some guys in the heavyweight division that I could compete against, I’m sure, but it’s not really about that. I’m pretty comfortable where I’m at. I like competing at 205 with guys that are my size and not having to get cute. You know? Not having to sneaky and come up with inventive ways to get around guys that are that big. I’m pretty comfortable where I’m at.

 

MMAWeekly: You’re fighting ‘The Iceman’ this weekend. It’s here Randy. Are you ready for this?

 

Couture: Man, I can’t wait until it gets here. It’s kind of the fun part, the waiting. I had my last hard sparring session Wednesday night. I went through that last week with the radio and all that stuff going on, which is a nice distraction because all you’re really doing is sitting around with your thumb in your BUTT just waiting for the fight to get here.

 

MMAWeekly: Let me return to this just for a quick second. There’s this debate right now on how good Arlovski is, as far as a heavyweight. If we were to put him up against some of the other heavyweights in Pride, how do you think he’d fare against a Minotauro, a Fedor, or even an Aleksander?

 

Couture: I think he’d do great. I think he’d do great. I’ve not seen another heavyweight that has the footwork and the agility that he demonstrates for a guy his size. His ground skills are good. I just think he’s got the total package. I think he could go with any of those guys and do very well. Obviously, I think Fedor is the most interesting fight there. Just their styles; that would be an unbelievable fight.

 

MMAWeekly: Randy, when you fought Josh Barnett in his prime, Josh Barnett was in the best shape of his life for you. You could say the same thing about Ricco Rodriguez. I mean he was like down to 250. How would Arlovski do against the two you fought for the championship those nights? Who would win those fights if Arlovski had to fight Ricco in his prime, and Josh Barnett in his prime?

 

Couture: I don’t think those guys, and not that it wouldn’t be a fight because I think both of those guys have the potential to submit you. They’re both very talented with submissions, but I think the issue they’re really going to have facing Andrei is he’s quick, and he’s going to be hard to get a hold of without getting your head knocked off. The challenge for both of them would be to get Andrei on the ground, and hope they could find a way to submit him before he got back up. I think it’s rare that you find a guy that can move that well at that size, and he hits like a Mac truck.

 

MMAWeekly: It’s obvious. We’ve all seen the tape. You got out boxed by Liddell in the last fight. What have you done that you can show us to change the outcome of the fight, to not get caught stepping straight in or whatever? What have you been doing differently this time with your stand up game?

 

Couture: Well, obviously working a lot on protecting myself better, keeping my left hand up and in position. I think the biggest thing for me is patience. Chuck has to bring this fight. He’s standing there holding the belt, so I need to go out and establish myself in the middle of the octagon and make Chuck come to me and not chase him. Not try to run him down. Be patient, keep pressure on him, but not over commit. Not get careless and over commit.

 

MMAWeekly: Randy, you said the second fight, the poke had nothing to do with it. Let me ask you, if you did not get poked in the eye, would you have still been knocked out?

 

Couture: You know what, that’s hard to say. I’m not one to make excuses, and I don’t think Chuck intentionally poked me in the eye. Things like that happen all the time. I got poked in the eye two weeks ago in practice. It happens. It definitely changed my composure, which is my fault. I allowed it to piss me off, and when I came back after John [McCarthy] let me recover, I had my vision. I could see. There was no problem. The eye was fine. I was a little angry. I was like God damn it, and I went straight after him. I hit him, but I still, it was the wrong place and the wrong thing to do. I put myself in a bad position and created the opportunity for him to step off to that angle and land that shot.

 

MMAWeekly/Frank Trigg: For all the years that I’ve known Randy and all the crap that I’ve done to him, all the jokes I’ve played on him, all the shit we’ve done together that I should have literally gotten my neck broken for; you get mad a Chuck for poking you in the eye during a fight and you never got mad at me?

 

Couture: It’s not like I haven’t had some issues with my eyes. That was the thing. After the Rodriguez fight and being out for six months with the fracture, and then the Belfort fight with the slice of the eyelid, and I had seen Chuck. He had been accused of poking other guys in the eye, and to have it happen, it just instantly kind of set me off, which is unusual for me. I don’t usually get pissed off, but it did kind of set me off.

 

MMAWeekly: With that said, what do you do? Is that a concern in number three here?

 

Couture: I’m not concerned about it. I thought about going out there with some Kareem Abdul Jabbar goggles, but I don’t think that would be cool. If it happens, it happens. I think that mentally I’ve visualized and prepared for the instance that it could happen. It happened in practice two weeks ago. I’ve still got a bit of a black eye now from getting poked in practice, so if it happens, it happens. I’m prepared to keep my composure and stick to my game plan, hunt this son of a bitch down, throw him on his head when I get the chance, and beat him.

 

MMAWeekly: Randy, you’ve heard the rumors out there. A lot of people believe this is it, win or lose for you. What do you say to that?

 

Couture: Well, I just signed a three-fight contract. It’s the best contract that I’ve ever signed. The sport is literally exploding in front of us. Competitive wise, I feel as good, I think that I’m the best fighter that I’ve ever been right now. I’ve always said to take it one fight at a time. I’m not looking past Chuck at all. I’ll let the dust settle here and then decide what I want to do. There’s a lot of opportunities to do a lot of other things. I see my friend there talking on Fox Sports. There’s all kinds of other things besides getting punched in the head to do right now. I’ve been doing this a long time.

 

MMAWeekly: Who has worse cauliflower ear, you or Trigg?

 

Couture: [laughs] That’s a toss up. I think it would have to be judged, and it would probably be pretty subjective judging going on.

 

MMAWeekly/Trigg: You’ve got to remember, my ears were not a part of an ad campaign for Nike called ‘Scars.’

 

Couture: That’s true.

 

MMAWeekly: Really? I did not know that. When was that?

 

Couture: I was in a national commercial with Picabo ‘Peekaboo’ Street and Ronnie Lott. I can’t remember who else was in the commercial, but it was about athletes and their scars. It aired during the World Series. It was a pretty big commercial.

 

MMAWeekly: Wow. How long ago was that?

 

Couture: It was, holy cow, it had to have been back in 99-98.

 

MMAWeekly. I had no idea about that. That’s crazy man. That’s good stuff. A third time against Chuck Liddell, I know you can’t really say what you’re going to do this third time, but let me ask you, does this fight favor you the later you. Is this fight something where you feel you’ve got to get Chuck out of there early? What do you see as the best scenario for you to win?

 

Couture: I think it always favors me if it goes later. I think my conditioning has always been a tool that I’ve been able to use in a lot of fights. With rare exception, it has been an advantage for me, and I think this fight is no different. I’ve got to be sharp early. I think Chuck’s going to come out throwing and trying to stroke and find a way to try and take me out of there early. I’ve got to be sharp and make him work as hard as I can. I’ve made no bones about it, I’m going to try and dump him on his head. The more times I can pick him up and put him on the mat and make him work his BUTT off to get up, the better off it will be for me.

 

MMAWeekly: Randy, how do you get it back to that first fight? What did you do in the first fight you did not do in the second fight?

 

Couture: I think the biggest thing in the first fight was the element of surprise. Nobody expected me to step in there and hit him first. He made the adjustment in his footwork for the second fight. He didn’t stand around. He didn’t plant his feet and try and land any shots. He ran and ran and ran and got me to over commit. Got me to chase him down, and was able to step to that angle and land that shot.

 

MMAWeekly: Randy, you signed that three-fight deal. Lets just say you beat Liddell. Who are two and three? You’re at a point in your career now where you don’t want to fight a no-name. Obviously you want to fight the best. Who appeals to you in fights two and three if this works out for you?

 

Couture: Man I don’t know. I don’t even care. I start thinking about down the road, and I run right smack into this road block standing in front of me, so I haven’t even thought about it. They always come up with something interesting. There’s still a lot of guys. Tito is coming back. Ken Shamrock is trying to get back into this. There’s a lot of guys in the division coming back now.

 

MMAWeekly: Who else have you been training with besides Arlovski down there?

 

Couture: I spent two weeks up in Colorado with Ed Anderson’s Judo school. I took Mike Pyle out there with me, and Keith Wilson. A bunch of the wrestlers from the area came in and had a great camp there. Those guys all ganged up on me at about 6500ft. And you know how that air feels. It was kind of fun to be out in the mountains, in the clean air and back in Southern Colorado. The training camp out there was great. Other than that, it’s been Mike Pyle and Alex Schoenauer, Forrest Griffin, Chris Tramel, John Wood. There’s a couple of young guys that have been coming in there every day. Frank Mir showed his face a few times.

 

MMAWeekly: How did he look?

 

Couture: He looks good. He’s got some work to do. He’s still Frank Mir. He’s got some amazing ground skills, and his stand up wasn’t too bad either. We went some sparring rounds, and he moves well and holds his own there in the standing position. I think the biggest thing is he’s got to get his fitness level back up where it should be.

 

MMAWeekly: He’s kind of a wild card because I talked to a few people that were worried about his take downs because when you break your femur, what can you do? That will be interesting.

 

Couture: Yea. I wondered if mobility was going to be an issue, or how much pressure he can put on that leg. I’m sure it’s still pretty early for him, but seemed to be moving fine with the workouts we went through. It didn’t seem to be an issue for him. The biggest issue was he had been out for a while, so he was trying to get his fitness level back up. Heath Herring has been coming in a little bit. Man. He’s a big cat.

 

MMAWeekly: Yea. He’s a strong kid. Randy, it’s always a pleasure to track you down man. Thanks for letting us harass you.

 

Couture: You bet man. Thank you guys.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

That guy is my hero.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Bad Ass Breakdown: UFC 57 - 2/1/2006

by Phil Baroni

 

UFC 57 is an intriguing card from top to bottom. All nine fights present interesting matchups that will answer one or more questions lingering questions about virtually every fighter on the card. Plus, it’s nice to see a UFC card that isn’t littered with guys from “The Ultimate Fighter.” We only have two TUF 2 guys on the card and neither one has a gimmie matchup. Instead, they’re facing each other. So that leaves 16 guys who’ve truly earned their right to be in the cage.

 

Let’s take a look at the first half of the card:

 

Brandon Vera vs. Justin Eilers

 

Brandon Vera is a pretty good wrestler. He’s trained with a lot of top guys, like Randy Couture and other guys at the Olympic Training Center. Now, is he a world-class wrestler? No. He’s never competed and placed at the world level, but he’s still got a big edge over Justin Eilers in this fight.

 

When it comes to striking, I’m not so sure about Vera. He’s never shown me anything with his hands. But he’s got very strong leg kicks and solid knees. Eilers, by contrast, has real knockout power in his hands. We saw that when he stopped a very big Mike Kyle. That power, plus his willingness to stand and brawl with anyone, will be a big asset in this fight.

 

If this comes down to a standup fight, I give the edge to Eilers. Normally, guys who rely on kicks and knees aren’t that comfortable against guys who bull rush in, check the kicks and then let their hands go. The kicker needs space to land big shots, and an aggressive puncher who knows how to defend kicks typically won’t give him that space. Eilers is the bigger, stronger, more aggressive fighter. So, Vera really should try to take the fight to the ground or really focus on getting the Thai clinch.

 

On the ground, Vera has the edge. He used to train with Dean Lister down at City Boxing in San Diego. They were top training partners. But Lister left that gym and Vera didn’t for whatever reason. So we know his ground game is very good. If he puts Eilers on his back, then he has an overwhelming advantage. I’d still give Vera a slight edge if he ends up fighting from his guard. Eilers could be dangerous pounding down on him, but Vera will still hold the advantage in that scenario.

 

The one asterisk to that analysis is the fact that Eilers is coming off back-to-back losses. There’s no hiding from the fact that losses chip away at your confidence. And there’s nothing worse than a humbled fighter. I should know that better than anyone.

 

Fighter’s need to be cocky. They need to be completely sure of themselves before they step into the cage. Eilers knows he needs to win in order to keep his UFC career alive. He knows he needs to look impressive. That’s a lot of pressure. Will he wilt from the pressure? Or, will he step up and use the pressure as extra motivated? He needs to start out quickly, impose his will on the softer, weaker Vera and focusing on trying to win the fight right from Jump Street. He has to completely forget about fighting not to lose. I fought trying not to lose against Pete Sell and we all know how that one turned out. Eilers has to avoid falling into that trap.

 

In truth, both of these guys should probably fight 205 pounds. Neither are big heavyweights. I’m not sure either can really compete with the giants in the division like Arlovski or Frank Mir. Personally, I’d like to see the winner drop down in weight and see what kind of noise he can make among the light heavies.

 

Alessio Sakara vs. Elvis Sinosic

 

This should be another fight for Alessio Sakara to demonstrate his standup skills. In terms of skill level, there are MMA strikers, like Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar. Then, there are guys who are on another level. Not necessarily world-class strikers, but still at another level above good MMA strikers. Sakara is one of those guys, principally because of his solid amateur boxing background.

 

He looked great on the feet in his last fight until he got kicked in the balls. He uses his jab better than anyone I’ve ever seen in MMA. He pumps it over and over to control the distance and set up big power punches as he steps inside. His hands look nice and fast, but his ground game still has a huge question mark hovering over it.

 

Elvis Sinosic showed some improvement in his standup game in his last fight against Griffin. He had Griffin rocked early, but he still got knocked out in the first round. If he stands with Sakara, he gets knocked out early – no doubt about it. Sakara is a much bigger puncher than Griffin. And he’s able to take better advantage of Sinosic’s mistakes, countering more effectively compared to Griffin.

 

That means Sinosic’s best bet is to take the fight to the ground and try to find a way down there. Can Sakara defend the takedown? Sinosic doesn’t have the best takedowns. So that’s a tough one to answer. Can he defend submissions? I don’t know. But I’m still not sold on Sinosic’s ground skills. He’s lived too long off one submission win over a top guy. That doesn’t mean all that much to me.

 

Let’s face it, Elvis Sinosic is a journeyman. He’s just an opponent in this fight. Granted, he’ll try to make the best of the opportunity. But he’s being brought in to lose to Sakara, and lose in spectacular fashion.

 

 

Brandon Lee Hinkle vs. Jeff Monson

 

Jeff Monson’s fought at both heavyweight and light heavyweight, so he’s a smallish, but durable, heavyweight. His big strength lies in his grappling. The guy has serious skills in that area, competing in what seems like every big tournament from Abu Dhabi to NAGA to Grappler’s Quest.

 

My Hammer House teammate, Brandon Lee Hinkle, is known for having two of the top five greatest fights in IVC history – the fights with Ebenezer Braga and Carlos Baretto. So he’s a durable fighter that can survive a total war, though I don’t know if he’ll need that durability against a grappler like Monson.

 

In breaking down the matchup, I’d give the wrestling advantage to Hinkle. When you get in deep against a grappler like Monson, they pull guard a lot. So I expect Hinkle to get on top and stop pounding away with his right hand. The guy is very right hand happy inside the guard. He once threw like 37 consecutive right hands from the guard in a fight.

 

Monson is a short, stocky guy. He’s not really built for submissions. He’s more of a takedown-and-hold fighter who looks to grind out decisions. So I don’t see him tapping Hinkle. He’s going to try to pull out a lay-and-pray win.

 

To me, this fight comes down to whether Hinkle shows up in great shape. He doesn’t always get in the greatest shape. He trains hard, but still likes to party a bit. I expect Hinkle to get the early takedown and start pounding away with right hands. If he’s in great shape, he should ground-and-pound his way to a win. If not, Monson can gas him out by surviving the first onslaught and then doing what he does best – takedown and hold him down for a decision.

 

Keith Jardine vs. Mike Whitehead

 

This is a do-or-die fight for Mike Whitehead. He’s got what seems to be a very beatable opponent. Although Keith Jardine is rumored to have great ground skills, I haven’t really seen them. He didn’t really show them in any of his TUF 2 fights. So, he might be like David Terrell, where he has tremendous ground skills in the gym, but doesn’t bring them to the cage. Evan Tanner’s ground and pound made Terrell’s submission game look subpar. Why? It’s a whole new ballgame when someone’s pounding on your face in a real fight compared to the controlled environment of training camp.

 

The problem, though, is that Whitehead has shown a tendency to choke when he’s on the big stage. He didn’t put up a good effort against Brandon Vera at WEC 13. And his loss to Rashad Evans in the quarterfinals of TUF2 was forgettable effort. So, I wonder if he’ll show up in his true UFC debut on Saturday night.

 

Will Whitehead finally step up to the plate and go down swinging, or is he going to strikeout looking like he did against Evans? If he brings the fight to Jardine, I like him to win. His training partners at Team Miletich hold him in high regard because of his good wrestling and solid ground-and-pound game. So he needs to forget about Jardine’s jiu-jitsu game, put the guy on his back up against the fence and blast away.

 

Even though Jardine hasn’t looked good on the feet, he probably has the edge over Whitehead standing. But why mess around with a big guy who can hurt you with a right hand? Jardine should try to put Whitehead where he’s the most uncomfortable – on his back. From there, he can work for submissions or pound away.

[Your Paragon of Virtue 0]

http://thesmartmarks.com/article_1837.shtml

 

Read.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I think Liddell will win the blow-off.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I think one of the most important things to note is the Randy Couture is at his best when he is the underdog. Against Liddell the first time, against Rizzo the second time when a lot of people believed he lost the first fight, against Belfort the first time. I'm not 100% sure on it, but against Randleman I think he went in as the underdog as well. He has an uncanny ability to rise to the occasion and DOMINATE, and that's a huge x-factor in his favour.

[Guest Brian]

He must have been the underdog against Randleman.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I remember watching the fight and the announcers weren't really on Randys jock as they are today.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

The Man:

 

The Contestants (photos couresty of InsideFighting.com, from the UFC 57 Weigh-In):

 

Randy Doh!-ture

 

Mike Van Arsdale

 

Brandon Vera

 

Gilbert Aldana

 

Jeff Monson

 

Mike Whitehead

 

Keith Jardine

[Guest AndrewisyourHero]

Randy, for sure.

 

Also, holy SHIT does Whitehead look different from when he was on TUF2.

[Lord of The Curry 0]

Randy looks uber-stoned.

[Slayer 0]

So hair isn't very popular in MMA?

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

It's easier to escape when your opponent has your head trapped if you don't have hair. Not that that's the exact reason for why these guys in particular are bald, but in general, most MMA fighters don't have a full head of hair because it works against you (plus it gets in your eyes... OUIMET~!)

[Guest Army Eye]

Have there ever been any MMA guys with long hair? I'm coming up blank. Vitor when he had the afro is the best I can think of.

[Slayer 0]

I wasn't referring to long hair (as I know it would be a liability), moreso any kind of hair at all, even just short hair like Batista's, for example

[Guest Retro Rob]

Have there ever been any MMA guys with long hair? I'm coming up blank. Vitor when he had the afro is the best I can think of.

 

A bunch of guys got hair, just look at the line up for tonights show; http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=eventDetai...ghtCard&eid=146

 

As for long hair, Andrei Arlovski has a pretty full head of hair.

[Lei Tong 0]

Early Pancrase featured some pretty awesome colonial-style 'doos, with the likes of Funaki, Mezger & Lazenby all sporting them.

 

Nowadays, long hair seems to be confined mainly to the "greasy wetback" look sported by the likes of Art Santore & Diego Sanchez.

[Angel_Grace_Blue 0]

Two things:

 

1. Randy is going to win because of the hot dog shorts. How can you bet against Oscar Meyer?

 

2. Whitehead has a big fucking head. Then again, it's hard to lose that pesky head weight.

[AmazingRen 0]

Anybody ordering the fight?

[Guest Army Eye]

Riggs fights at 202 pounds. He cut over 30 pounds. This is just ridiculous and stupid...

[naiwf 0]

I hope Randy gets his ass kicked and calls it quits. I'm sure I'll find out what happens just as soon as the fight's over though.

[Adam 0]

Fuck you Joe Riggs. Hopefully that isn't Nick Diaz' last fight in the UFC for a while. The guy is a great heel.

 

BABALUUUU~! wins in 2:21 with a Rear Naked Choke. Due to our discussion earlier this week, he should be getting the winner of the Main at UFC59, whether that be Chuck or Randy.

[Adam 0]

WOW, Mir loses in the first round by TKO. Who's going to challenge after Tim now?

[Guest Army Eye]

Think Dana will kick Frank Mir to the curb after that pathetic effort?

[Adam 0]

And Chuck wins it with another KO! I HAVE to see this fight, the build sounds awesome. I read that Paris Hilton was in the audience - wow.

[naiwf 0]

I hope Randy gets his ass kicked and calls it quits. I'm sure I'll find out what happens just as soon as the fight's over though.

 

I'm happy as can be right now

[Guest Brian]

Man, when Randy got the takedown the place exploded at my house. Great fucking career. Great fucking fighter. My thoughts when the whole thing is over.

[Guest Brian]

I really liked the show. Diaz/Riggs was really good, really close. The first round of the Buentello fight was surprisingly good. Disappointing return for Mir, as he still looked off. Chuck/Randy was, despite not a ton of action, really intense. Monson looked like a beast out there, as did Babalu and Vera.

[Lei Tong 0]

TRUTH