UFC 109 Couture vs. Coleman – Battle of the Aged Legends
UFC 109 - Couture vs. Colman
When people think about this matchup between Randy “The Natural” Couture and Mark “The Hammer” Coleman, they ask themselves what in the world is Dana White and the UFC thinking. For the casual MMA enthusiast, this fight does not make sense because all they see is two fighters way past their prime trying to recapture something that may have been sealed and buried long time ago. Let us go back and actually examine why this fight is not that half bad and may turn out to be something of a sleeper fight that sneaks up on you. This will be the first time in UFC history that two Hall of Famers step in the Octagon to do battle.
Couture has been known to make unbelievable comebacks time after time in his Hall of Fame career. At UFC 68, Couture gave Tim Sylvia an old fashioned whipping from the beginning of round one until the end of round five. I never thought Sylvia would be man handled like a rag doll by Couture, but he proved the MMA world wrong and went on to win the heavyweight title by unanimous decision. At UFC 74, Couture took on Gabriel Gonzaga, the man who nearly decapitated Mirko Cro Crop with a devastating leg kick to the head at UFC 70. In this fight, Couture took it to Gonzaga and showed him the old man was capable of dishing out some punishment of his own. After it was all said and done, Couture had broke Gonzaga’s nose and the ref stepped in to stop the fight with Gonzaga bleeding profusely. Couture sustained a broken forearm from this fight also. At UFC 91, Couture took on Brock Lesnar, with this fight being titled “the biggest fight in UFC history”. Couture was returning to the Octagon to defend the heavyweight belt after being gone for 15 months. The fight is going well for Couture until the second round when Lesnar throws a right hand that lands to the side of Couture’s temple and knocks him down. From then on, Lesnar is throwing hammerfists like they are going out of style. Lesnar wins by TKO strikes and is the new heavyweight champion. Even though Randy lost this fight, he still remained at the top among his fans. At UFC 105, Couture defeated Brandon Vera by unanimous decision. Some fans thought Vera got robbed, but after looking at the fight, Vera did nothing to close the fight out in his favor. Couture did what was needed to pull out the victory and once again Vera can only blame himself for this loss.
Coleman, who was the first ever UFC heavyweight champion, has somehow resurrected his UFC career with a good showing against Shogun Rua at UFC 93, even though it ended in a loss for him. Coleman had to cut weight from heavyweight to light-heavyweight to make this fight. At his advanced age, that is not an easy thing to do, but he pulled it off. This fight amazed me because Rua who is younger, faster, and regarded as the best 205-pounder in the world when he was fighting for Japan’s PRIDE, should have been running circles around Coleman, but Coleman was holding his own through this fight. As much as Coleman was tired and gassing through the fight, his opponent Rua was doing the same thing. In the third round, Rua was able to put a barrage of punches together that Coleman was too slow to get out of the way from and Rua wins the fight by TKO stoppage by the referee. Nobody expected Coleman to make it that far through the fight with an opponent like Rua. At UFC 100, Coleman defied the odds again and pulled out a unanimous decision win over Stephen Bonnar. I must admit I was pulling for Coleman to take it to Bonnar because Bonnar has not shown me any true potential since his first fight in the UFC against Forrest Griffin. The fact that Bonnar let Coleman control him through the fight and make it through another three rounds to get a win, proves Bonnar’s skills are not all there or Coleman still has some octane left in his tank.
When these two fighters step in to the Octagon, they might not have too much to lose, but the winner can definitely prolong his career on life support for another shot at glory. In my opinion, with the young caliber of fighters in the light-heavyweight division, any chance of either fighter jumping the line for a title shot is very slim. Not to say that it can’t happen because Dana White always has something up his sleeve, but there may not be too much of a fan interest in seeing these fighters too much longer compete in the UFC. Maybe these guys are only gate keepers to the light-heavyweight division, but if I had to face them, I am definitely packing a lunch because it will be a long day at the office. I am looking forward to the fight because they are two of my favorites and I think the fans will be more than surprised at what they will bring on fight night.
