UFC 105 Preview: Randy Couture Talks About his Game Plan Against Brandon Vera
by Anton Tabuena on Sep 23, 2009 12:52 AM EDT
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Print5-time champion, Randy Couture will be dropping down to light heavyweight to face Brandon Vera in the main event of UFC 105. The UFC Hall-of-Famer talked to mmaweekly about his game plan:
"We’re both the same size, he’s a good size light heavyweight as well. He fought at heavyweight for a while. We both have Greco background. He uses his Thai skills a lot in his fights. It’s a good match-up and it’s an interesting fight... I’m gonna have to work and cut him off. I know he’s good at throwing kicks, high or low, so I’ve got to be prepared for that, but I think every time he picks his foot up, I should be able to transition and put him on the ground.
I think I’m gonna focus more on what I do and do what I do well: just take guys down and put him on the bottom and force him to work from there. Brandon’s gonna come out and try to establish his range and land his long punches and kicks, and I’ve got to be ready to deal with that, and make him pay—put him on the ground every time he does.
I’m not worried about the style match-up... I’ve been in there with a lot of good strikers and done well. I don’t think he uses his wrestling skills much, and I think he’s going to be forced to use them here."
Randy Couture thinks that this could be the first step to getting a shot at Lyoto Machida:
"I think this fight will put me in the mix at 205. Ultimately, I’d love to compete against Machida. Nobody’s really seemed to solve that puzzle yet, and I’m very intrigued by him and his style... I think I have wrestling abilities that he maybe hasn’t seen yet, that could make his usual game plan and his usual style a little more difficult,"
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I, for one
will be interested to see if Randy can mount a final run at a title. He really is a true LHW, so maybe- just maybe- he can string together a couple solid wins.
I tend to think that Vera will win… but i’ll be rooting for Captain America all day long
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
If Randy really uses his wrestling, Vera could be in for a long, bumpy, shit-tastic night. I’d love to see Randy fight Machida, for the simple fact that it’s a great name to add to Machida’s record and continue building his hype.
"You guys are jerking eachother off with some pseudo deep bullshit." - Kid Nate
Randy re-focusing on wrestling is the right call. He can’t win the striking match here, but he’s a much better wrestler than Vera, despite Vera’s impressive credentials.
Machida is of course a huge favorite over Randy. But if Rampage Jackson is done fighting now, the options at 205 are very slim to say the least.
Dear Randy,
please slam Vera, hard.
thnx
by Big4Nuthin' on Sep 23, 2009 5:08 AM EDT reply actions 2 recs
same reason why i like this matchup. :)
by Anton Tabuena on Sep 23, 2009 7:21 AM EDT up reply actions
Vera v. Couture
I recommended this fight, in song no less, nearly two years ago when Randy threw his hissy fit and fake retired from the UFC. As you can imagine, I’m pretty excited about this.
I suppose after Vera smashes Couture, we’ll have another in-ring retirement from The Natural. You’d have to take it with a grain of salt, sure, but at 47, it’s probably time for Randy to hang them up if he were to lose. It’d be a shame, too, because I think Randy v. Anderson Silva would be an intriguing match stylistically that would do huge business.
But that won’t happen, because Vera is going to win.
...Behold, a pale horse. The man that sat upon it was Wieters, and hell followed with him.
"BJ on the BE" - Kierkegaard
When's the last time Vera did anything impressive?
And you think he’s going to ‘smash’ Couture? He might pull a Starnes
Vera never put the heat on Krystof, i don’t see him really ever taking it to Couture either. Vera, in a post fight interview, would rather opine about how he got to use a southpaw stance in the fight and did other neat, new tricks! rather than fess up to jerking around for much of 3 rounds. i miss the guy that went on a tear and said he wanted 2 belts….at least the confidence that made him more exciting to watch. that last fight was boring as hell. no if’s ands or buts about it.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei.
http://theworldsoldestsport.blogspot.com/
by theworldsoldestsport on Sep 24, 2009 10:27 PM EDT reply actions
please…i am so tired of couture. he gets title shots by showing up and it isn’t fair. how do you lose your last two fights in your weight division, figure out you can’t hang with the big boys anymore, change weight divisions and assume that IF you beat a mid-level guy like Vera you are automatically “in the mix”??
i guess if your name is couture, you are in a position to do that.
i hope vera knocks him the f*** out and ends this fiasco
coming off two losses
and now vera? lol
is randy trying to end his career fighting james irvin?
whats next, houston alexander’s comeback schedule?
"he's the best punchy face man in the buisness"
eh?
He wants to go for machida, so who else do you suggest he fight at LHW? Evans declined.. and the rest of the ranked people already have fights scheduled.
internet = everyone complaining, but they never suggesting an alternative.
by Anton Tabuena on Sep 27, 2009 8:08 AM EDT up reply actions
well...
last time i checked in a comments section, not a suggestion box
but by all means
he could always stick to his previous statement of taking on more HW’s to get another shot at the title
since he felt he did so well against brock the first time
"he's the best punchy face man in the buisness"
by blubber_guard on Sep 27, 2009 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Don't you think that if there was a more marketable HW fight out there, that they wouldve booked that already?
The only HWs who do not have a schedule yet is gonzaga and big nog, both of which he has fought already.. Plus it would take him several more wins before getting a shot at the HW belt because of more deserving guys like Cain, Nog and Dos Santos..
A win at LHW could revive his career much like what he did when he 1st dropped down.. A few wins, (maybe just 1) and he gets a title shot. Plus he’d be fighting guys his size..
They tried to offer it to Rashad but he didn’t take it. The UFC scrambled to find a main event and with not much if a choice, they ended up with Vera..
People like to complain, but do they really think that the UFC were somehow dumber than some Internet fan that they missed seeing an available marketable fight? It’s just that there’s really no one else to fight. Much like how shogun got his title shot. He was the next big thing since every other contender has just lost, or has a fight scheduled..
by Anton Tabuena on Sep 27, 2009 1:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Why would Rashad decline a fight with Randy you think?
for all intents and purposes, just consider all my posts as works of satire.
because he's coming off two loses
and he’s just re entering the fold at LHW
rashad’s last fight, was a title defense, why would he want to go from that, to a HW coming off two loses?
"he's the best punchy face man in the buisness"
by blubber_guard on Sep 27, 2009 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions
thats straight from rashad's mouth btw
on mma live, he stated why would he be interested in it for that reason..
when rampage was the number 2 @ LHW and he was due a bout with him
"he's the best punchy face man in the buisness"
by blubber_guard on Sep 27, 2009 9:03 PM EDT up reply actions
you're looking way to far
into a tiny comment..
"he's the best punchy face man in the buisness"
by blubber_guard on Sep 27, 2009 7:42 PM EDT up reply actions
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