COUTURE VS. NOG LIKELY FOR NEXT TITLE SHOT Randy Couture and Rodrigo Nogueira headline UFC 102 in Portland on Saturday night in a legends of MMA heavyweight match-up, but the two veteran fighters know it's a number one contender's bout with a title shot just over the horizon for the victor. "That's been tossed around," Couture told the media on Wednesday when asked about the winner getting a possible championship bout with the winner between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, who headline UFC 106 on Nov. 21. "When the dust settles they'll decide what they want to do. Everybody is talking about 205 and this, that and the other thing. That stuff will all be there. It will take care of itself, but it sounds like this may be a title elimination type of deal where it will put us back in the number one contenders status." The three-time UFC heavyweight champion and two-time UFC light heavyweight titleholder has not ruled out the possibility of moving back to the 205-pound division. Asked about a potential match up with UFC middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva in the light heavyweight division, Couture commented, "I am intrigued by interesting fights and it certainly doesn't get more interesting than that." At 46 years old, Couture continues to defy Father Time, and says he's never felt better. "As far as athletically, I feel like I’m the best athlete I've ever been right now. I can't explain that other than I've just managed to keep a fairly high fitness level, stayed focused," said the former assistant wrestling coach and strength and conditioning coach for Oregon State University. "I think as we get older we tend to get smarter and eliminate a lot things that are distractions and refine training tactics and technique. “I think I've tactically and technically gotten a lot better. I'm a more fit athlete than I was when I started this 12 years ago."
Thursday, August 27, 2009 - by Jeff Cain - MMAWeekly.com
Yeah, I kinda feel the same.. I wanna see Randy against Anderson or Lyoto for his last few fights. I think if anyone were to expose any holes in those two, it'll probably be Randy with the game plan to do it.
Randy vs Anderson would be worth the $
BOOOOOO!!!
Rather see Randy vs Anderson. I have no desire to see Brock dry-hump Randy or Nog.
I dont want to Randy fight Lesnar again. The size advantage is just too much for him to over come.
Nog should be able to beat him but his chin is the only thing that has me worried.
Cain Velasquez must be thrilled
jobro - Randy has only 1 fight on his contract after this right?
If that's the case then he will be asked to renegotiate. And if he doesn't play Dana's game it'll be freeze out time.
Randy really needs to win this fight. If he loses his bargaining position will be destroyed.
How could Dana freeze him out if he isn't champ?
I don't know.. I would like to see a rematch with Randy & Brock... I think Randy was really turning the tide....I think if he can get past the first 2 rds... he would win...
^ I agree
"I dont want to Randy fight Lesnar again. The size advantage is just too much for him to over come"
I've got to disagree. Randy was doing just fine and landed a good hard shot on Brock everytime they broke from the clinch.
After watching the KO a dozen times I'm convinced that if Randy had not turned his head to the right by 90 degrees, Brock's punch would not have landed at what looked like the base of the skull/top of the neck.
That would have been an illegal shot had they been on the ground with Randy turtled. As it was, Randy turned into it, can't blame Brock.
No but the cut, him landing cleaner shots, and his stamina were all going well... if that fight got out of the 2nd rd I could have seen Randy really pour it on and win a decision...
I'd be pissed off if I was Cain Velasquez. Has a #1 contender fight scheduled with Carwin. It gets scrapped. Carwin gets a shot. Then they give the next shot to the winner of Randy & Nog (both of whom are coming off of losses, yet Cain is undefeated) the next title shot and Cain's present is what? A fight with Roy Nelson? Roy's a bad dude. That's not a present. This is someone sending a message to Cain that they don't want him in the mix.
^^ that is tue too... it has to be the poularity thing... he's just not a big enough draw...
bottom line is that its still a business... they have to make money and if a guy can't draw a crowd (Okami,Marquardt,Valasquez,etc..) they'll get pushed back over and over
I assumed the Randy/Nog winner would fight Brock next on the Superbowl card, instead of Carwin
If Nog comes back and looks healthy and beats Randy, Nog vs Lesnar is a great fight IMO
Randy came in much lighter vs Lesnar at 230ish, so dropping to LHW has made perfect sense with beasts like Carwin and Lesnar dwarfing him at HW now
Randy vs Lyoto or Anderson sound awesome to me too
Cain has zero to complain about, he still needs to earn another big win or too
HW is just real thin right now, they need some fresh blood
louden swain - bottom line is that its still a business... they have to make money and if a guy can't draw a crowd (Okami,Marquardt,Valasquez,etc..) they'll get pushed back over and overThat sounds like another business I've heard of...
You mean they shouldn't make decisions based on staying in business?
Then, they wouldn't be in business.
boooooooo
Mark Martin - You mean they shouldn't make decisions based on staying in business?Of course you have to "push" the guy with the most "heat" in order to attract the "marks". That's the way pro-wrestling works.
as it should be