on the ground! I think everyone knows Belfort has Couture beat as far as striking goes. And Couture has Belfort beat as far as takedowns and GnP goes, everyone is already saying "If this goes to the ground Belfort is in deep trouble.". Everyone is forgetting that Belfort is a black belt in BJJ and can handle himself on the ground. He has competed at ADCC and done well...he is not JUST a striker he is a good grappler as well. Just food for thought
Vitor is Sick everybody will be on the bandwagon as of feb 1st, we need vitor to win, it will make the whole lightweight division interesting. if coulture wins we are out of light heavy's. Plus I don't think anybody knows what vitor has in store for randy he has been wanting this fight for a long time. the last time I saw him fight was against the beastman live, if I hadn't seen the fight myself I would have sworn marvin was cut with a skillsaw across the fore head put randy ,tito chuck in that fight All I can see is 3 splitopen foreheads. the phenom is back and we will soon see what he has for randy
Vitor by armbar/triangle
like I said blinding knee to the forehead followed by 7000 strikes in under 5 seconds. couture is done
ttt
I don't think anyone is underestimating Belfort. I see him and always thought of him as a bigger threat than Tito. Vitor has his shit together and it is going to be incredible. I feel priveleged to witness two stars like Randy and Vitor leave it all in the octagan. Good luck to both, I hope they have good showings win or lose and neither sustain any injuries....
Most people have written Vitor's chances off. Randy has faced a better wrestler (Tito), Randy has faced better strikers (Rizzo, Couture).
Yes, all of the above is true.
However, I seem to remember everyone writing off Couture's chances of beating Liddell and Ortiz a short while ago.
Thats why they fight the fights.
Samoa.
lol@"couture is done"
Belfort has all the tools on paper, but he always seems to underwhelm when his time comes.
LOL @ underwhelm. Definitely true, but I think this time will be different. Belfort by submission from the top, in rd. 3 or 4.
I don't know that Vitor has the striking advantage. That to me is the thing that has allowed Couture to own Tito and Chuck even more so than the takedowns. Couture beat chuck on his feet and then took him down to finish him.
Tito wanted nothing to do with him on their feet and was unable to defend from his back.
Vitor defnitely has the subs and the hands to win this fight if it goes his way but Randy can discourage any fighter and make them slip out of their game.
His stand-up defense is very good and he has a great chin. His fighting out of the clinch is also incredible and was certainly the difference against Chuck. Randy seems to be able to adapt to his opponent better than anyone in the game.
Except for maybe Vitor?
Vitor may be my favourite fighter of all time and I have been waiting for years for his potential to be fully unleashed. If it were any time (more importantly any other fighter other than Couture) I would think Vitor at 100% will beat anyone.
However Couture has had an answer for everything in his last two fights.
Of course Vitor has subs that Randy will have to be aware of but Subs when you are against the cage are very hard to get and other (lesser) fighters have been able to neutralize Vitor's ground attack in the past.
I am certainly not underestimating Vitor. I can't see Randy finishing him but I do expect a decision win for Randy.
That said, Vitor still has the potential to take Randy out in the first round if he gets the slightest opportunity.
I pick Randy by decision but I am having a hell of a time really voting for anyone.
Vitor may be my favourite fighter but how can you not like Randy.
My vote is for an awesome fight regardless of the outcome.
I would like nothing better than to see a close decision or a 5th round KO or sub by either guy in a war.
(I'm sure most of us would like that)
There's the superstition that Couture is the favorite, so now he'll lose. That's the best argument against him.
Randy got subbed by Enson years and years ago. I think he fixed that hole. Horn, Rodriguez, and Barnett couldn't do it, even though the latter two had a big size advantage. I don't think Belfort will, either.
Randy will get a stoppage later in the fight. If Tito couldn't outlast him, nobody will.
I think the safer saying would be 'don't underestimate couture'. Never bet against couture!!
You can say Vitor has better striking and better groundwork all you want, but the fact remains that Randy beat him both on the feet and on the ground in their first fight. Not to mention Chuck outstruck Belfort and Randy outstruck Chuck, or that Randy beat Pedro who would almost certainly kill Vitor.
About Vitor Belforts ground work:
He is being trained by Leonardo Vieira
Current ADCC SW world champion
first big fight of the year will be a doozy!!
ttt
Couture will win by decision.
Serious question, not being sarcastic, but who has Vitor subbed on the ground, and how?
If Rizzo couldn't KO Randy, I doubt Vitor will. Couture has a damn good chin. It's almost unfair how well-suited the guy is to fighting.