UFC 91 Couture vs. Lesnar
The Champ is Here The Natural Set to Return
On September 2nd, UFC President and figurehead, Dana White, held an open conference call with the press to announce the re-signing of mixed-martial-arts legend and possessor of the promotion’s heavyweight championship, Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture (16-8).
Last October, coming off his superhuman resurrection out of retirement at the age of 44, tumbling giant Tim Sylvia for the heavyweight crown, Couture abandoned his championship reign and the company where the icon built his legacy, reporting dissatisfaction with UFC’s management over failure to orchestrate a fight with #1 ranked heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. Couture and Zuffa LLC, UFC’s parent company, engaged in a year-long stalemate over the shape of the Hall of Famer’s existing contract; Couture believing that after 9-months the expiration of his contract would permit him to seek opportunities outside the UFC, while Zuffa maintained ‘The Natural’ owed them two more fights and legally could not appear for a competing promotion until he satisfied their deal.
Couture’s new arrangement gives him (potentially) three more trips to the Octagon, the first being with newcomer Brock Lesnar (2-1) at UFC 91 on November 15th at the MGM Grand Arena, Las Vegas, and most probably, a robust bump in pay, a point of contention between the 5-time champion and White prior to his walking.
Brock Lesnar
Lesnar (31) entered the UFC during Couture’s hiatus. Quick, athletic, extraordinarily powerful, the wrestling national champion fell to Frank Mir’s ground wizardry in his UFC debut, only to reenter the 8-sided cage six months later earning a decisive victory against fight-veteran Heath Herring. Showing acute improvement, the South Dakotan-native mauled The Texas Crazy Horse for three brutal, unrelenting, rib-cracking rounds to take the unanimous decision.
Rumors originally attached his name with Cheick Kongo for the November pay-per-view event. However, a shoulder injury suffered in his last contest sidelined the Frenchmen until sometime next year, freeing Lesnar to serve as bait to entice Couture – interested in fights that could augment his legacy – to rejoin the company.
While Fedor is the White Whale of heavyweight shores, a fight with Lesnar offers greater spoils: the big-man’s crossover appeal equals huge buy-rate totals and a big check for Couture who has a piece of the backend of PPV cards on which he appears. Also, two or three years down the road, when Couture’s retired for the second time and behind the mic as color-commentator for UFC broadcasts, he can modestly bring up that he beat the most dominant heavyweight in the world not so long ago –that might appeal to the living legend.
Breaking down the fight
Rationalizing Lesnar, only three fights deep into his career, can’t offer the vastly accomplished Couture much of anything, many observers have scoffed at this booking, seeing it as a money-grab more than a legit matchup. People should know better.
Brock present s interesting problems for the 45 –year old legend; Couture, as strategically refined as he is, known for surgically dismantling opponents, has suspect submission skills, only obtaining two of his sixteen wins via tap out. It seems unfathomable that Couture could stitch in a submission hold on the elephantine arms or Frankenstein neck of Lesnar.
Albeit, still an unrefined striker, Lesnar packs unmatched power and greater reach than ‘Captain America’. Couture perfected the ground-and-pound method; it’s how he took the bulk of his TKO wins. Matched against a NCAA champion, younger and faster, Couture will find himself outgunned – not to mention Lesnar practices freestyle rather than, like Couture, Greco-Roman wrestling, which comes with a larger range of ground and takedown skills.
When he took his most recent championship, Couture relied heavily on Greco-roman clinch-dirty boxing techniques to control and neutralize the bigger Sylvia, grinding out a decision with superior conditioning. Penciled in as a five-rounder – as part of a legal maneuver, UFC never stripped Couture of the title – the former division-I All-American might look to outscore Lesnar and win on the judge’s cards. Lesnar, lungs of a bull, can go longer and harder than Couture, and brings a 50 lb weight advantage of functional muscle - the titleholder will feel like he’s trying to takedown and mount a bronco.
Randy’s camp, Xtreme Couture, has already arranged to fly in larger fighters for sparring. Come November 15, Randy’s going to learn there’s no one in the world like Brock Lesnar.
It’s a familiar story, the aging beloved champion against the phenomenal, brash upstart. Sadly, this is not a Hollywood tale, there’s no happy-ending in the script. The underdog doesn’t always win.
At UFC 91, they’ll be a new UFC heavyweight champion; he’s the next big thing in MMA, and his name is Brock Lesnar.
What do you think about this article?
Comments
Latest Articles