This fight was supposed to occur at UFC 15 on 10/17/97, however for various reasons, it never eventuated.
Randy "The Natural" Couture VS Mark "The Hammer"
Coleman.
Who would win this fight then and now?
I say Couture THEN, and Coleman NOW!!!
Before you mock this post, a little tidbit of ratiocination for you to catechize my filthy friends...
Mark Coleman is one of the few people in the world who can take Randy down and hold him there. This forces Randy to use his guard, which as we have all seen, isn't that great. Especially when it comes to someone 20 or more lbs heavier pounding down on Randy's arms/eyeball.
Back in 97 little was known about the sport, and with Couture's explosive style (back then) and Coleman on the downslide, Couture would have taken it, most likely with an ugly RNC when Coleman gassed.
Right now is a different story entirely chaps...Mark has since won the Pride HW GP which is the clearly Olympics of MMA featuring the top talent at Heavyweight. Couture has moved down in weight after being thoroughly dominated by two unexceptional Heavyweights.
Were they to see this fight in Pride now...I believe we would see Mark Coleman take down Couture with relative ease and after a few minutes of Randy looking very uncomfortable out of his element, The Hammer would most likely finish with knees from north/south or sidemount.
I'd have to go with Randy on this one too...let me tell you why...
Randy:
I feel Randy now is in better shape than just about anyone....especially a HW like Coleman. I agree that Randy's guard isn't great....but I also think that he definitely brings the mental edge to this match-up.
I feel that he would constantly work in there & fatigue Coleman....maybe not right away, but eventually tire out Coleman
I see this one being a classic war of attrition....with Randy winning by TKO(GnP)
Coleman:
STRONG AS ALL HELL! & can GnP (just as good if not better). I agree, can take Randy down better than anyone else would.....but.....we've seen him tire often & sometimes quickly in the past....that factor I feel would be the end of him.
In the UFC, certainly Coleman. Randy has better standup but isn't going to really hurt Coleman, and Mark would put him on his back at will. The UFC isn't as liberal with standups, and rewards takedowns and "control" more than Pride, so Mark would win each round and eventually the fight.
Still, Randy did have a credible armbar attempt from his back against Randleman, so maybe he could pull out a sub.
I'd go with Couture. He has shown he can come up with different and effective gameplans for very different fighters. He has also shown he can fight off his back against Randleman.
I say Coleman would win if he had the cardio to go at least three or four rounds.He has the skills to put Randy on his back and punish him there.Randy has the advantage in cardio but Coleman is so strong and has amazing wrestling ability.
Coleman's Pride Grand Prix win was a joke! He couldn't even finish a middleweight in Shoji and didn't even have to fight a second match while Igor had two very tough matches against Goodridge and Sak! Since the Grand Prix he has done nothing, two quick losses to Fedor and Nog and a win over an undersized Goes and a boring lay and pray decision over Don Frye. In the same time period since Coleman's GP win Couture has wins over Jeremy Horn, Yanagisawa, Kevin Randleman, T.K., Pedro Rizzo(2x), Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz and Vitor Belfort!
any of you guys ever made a mistake? let me tell you what Randy said about both fights, Ricco and Barnett.
Over dinner I asked him what would he do different in those fights, he laughed and said he would wrestle and not try to be a BJJ player, I asked him to explain, he said a wrestler wouldn't stay on his back which is what he chose to do, that proved to be his mistake, The Ricco fight he said the same thing, he tried to work off his back instead or using what he knows and does best, but to say he got totally dominated be Ricco is IMO not accurate, the blow to Randy's eye socket which broke it is what caused the verbal submission.
Re Coleman, knowing Randy and having watched Coleman over his career I think it is extremely obvious who would win.
Those that pick Coleman, I think are underestimating Couture's takedown skills. Coleman could take Couture down, but Couture could take down Coleman. I watched and followed both of their wrestling careers. Couture focused on Greco, but could have been an Olympic contender in Freestyle as well. He had a very close match with Dan Chaid at the '96 Western Regional trials. Chaid also defeated Coleman. I think it would be a close, even battle on takedowns. Couture would have the advantage on striking, and I suspect on submissions as well, although it would be highly unlikely that either one of the would submit the other. Coleman is quite a bit larger than Couture however, and that could tip the advantage to him.