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Randy Couture Vs Brock Lesnar
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John Pollock
Fight Network Journalist

POSTED: November 11, 2008 - 10:27 pm

CATEGORIES: MMA

Saturday night the UFC presents the most anticipated fight of the year as UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture returns to the octagon for the first time in 15 months to take on the fastest rising heavyweight in the sport Brock Lesnar.

Fighters, reporters and fans have surmised hundreds of possibilities when it comes to the outcome since the fight was announced in September and is all irrelevant because this is an impossible fight to accurately gauge an outcome. This is where the intrigue, anticipation and dollars are created for a marquee fight.

Is age finally going to be a factor for Couture?

Is Lesnar too big for Couture?

Will the experience edge be too much for Lesnar?

Can either submit the other?

Has the layoff affected Couture too much?

Can Lensar take a punch?

Is the superior footwork and standing ability of Couture able to offset the takedown ability of Lesnar?

All these questions have made this fight so hard to predict that it's a coin toss to pick a winner and no amount of over analysis is going to sway someone to choose one over the other concretely.

It wasn't so long ago the UFC heavyweight division was looking dull and stagnant, devoid of any talent that could headline a Pay Per View by themselves (paging Tim Sylvia and Jeff Monson). With the return of Couture in 2007, the signing of marquee heavyweights that left Pride, the emergence of the next generation trio of Brock Lesnar, Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin and the return from the dead of Frank Mir the UFC heavyweight division is once again a deep division with lots of interesting match ups for the next year that the company can play with.

Couture finds himself in the familiar underdog role for this fight and it's a role he loves, going 9-1 in fights where he has entered as the underdog. The age factor is never going to disappear as the challengers keep getting younger, stronger, faster and well versed and Brock Lesnar is the prototype of all four of those characteristics.

When this fight was first announced there was an outcry among the most ardent purists of the sport who decreed how Lesnar could springboard into a title shot. These fans may be the foundation of the sport but they are the last barometers of good match making the UFC should ever look to for approval. This fight is going to do huge numbers on Pay Per View in a terrible economy and has the entire industry on pins and needles counting down the hours until Mario Yamasaki waves his hand to start the fight. This is business first and foremost under the guise of a sport and right now business says Randy Couture Vs Brock Lesnar is your most marketable fight in the organization.

I am the worst handicapper when it comes to a Randy Couture fight so I don't even bother anymore. I thought Chuck Liddell was too explosive and dangerous in June 2003, I thought Tito Ortiz was too good a wrestler with explosive ground and pound in September 2003, I thought Tim Sylvia was too big in March 2007 and I thought the same of Gabriel Gonzaga in August 2007 - I am never making another prediction when it comes to a Randy Couture fight because my stomach will need to be pumped for crow the next time I make a prediction.

On Saturday night if you are a fan of the sport than you will be watching this fight with baited breath. It should be the most electric atmosphere for a fight in years and all the hundreds of questions will be answered. The UFC seems bullet proof to whatever the outcome in this fight is and there are so many stories and directions that will guide the UFC match making when the winner's hand is raised at the end of the fight.

There are those that will never understand why this fight will be made - they are the same people whose jaw dropped when the IFL, BoDog and countless others when out of business and cannot understand why Matt Lindland is on the outside looking in or why Fabricio Werdum was released this week.

It's just business and this fight is going to do great business.

I'm going with the wrestler.

COMMENTS (14): Submit A Comment
1. TheIncredibleHank
November 12, 2008 - 5:19 am

Business is about to pick up, Eh Pollock? Don't be scared to make a prediction. Expect the unexpected. That is the beauty of predicting the outcomes of fights. Who would've known that George Foreman would beat Micheal Moorer before he sold grills and Buster Douglas upsetting the then Invincible Iron Mike Tyson two weeks after his mother's death. I predicted Randy Couture over Brock Lesnar, but i am not so sure now. Couture looked old and unfocused because he was still conducting interviews with the press, sans the LAW, which he bailed on. He lost some muscle mass in over a year, which he needs to offset Lesnar's strength. Lesnar is focused because he is maintaining a press silence. I don't like the fact that Lesnar is getting a title shot so quickly. It cheapens the title reign, if he wins. That sounds like a rasslin' plot to me. I am not sold on Lesnar because he seems to quit when things don't go his way like the WWE and the NFL. If Lesnar wins, he will be nothing more than a white Kimbo Slice. But, I will stand by my earlier prediction and say Couture in the 3rd by knock out. Experience over impetuence .This will not be the fight of the year. That will be the George St. Pierre vs B.J. Penn fight for sure.

2. pauly
November 12, 2008 - 10:24 am

Dana White is taking Vince McMahon's business structure and is starting to use it better than Vince. And now he's using names that Vince made famous. Lord, I hope they don't bring in Macho Man, and the Ultimate Warrior now.

3. John Pollock , TFN Author
November 12, 2008 - 10:41 am

"If Lesnar wins, he will be nothing more than a white Kimbo Slice" - that is the most ridiculous statement I have ever read.

4. RJ
November 12, 2008 - 1:25 pm

I agree with John on that one. Kimbo Slice can't even last with a Ultimate Fighter competitor *note not even a winner of the show* let alone Brock Lesnar. I'm going with Brock on this one. The guy's just going to get better and better over time and dominate in the UFC. He's a perfectionist and takes to training like we take to breathing. Although in his defense, Couture has proved us naysayers wrong before. I just hope that Scorpion King prequel paid him the big bucks because without any real matches before this fight means he's going to be shaky and Lesnar obviously wants to make a statement and shake off that Pro Wrestler image. He wants to win and win decisively.

5. AlbertaAlex
November 12, 2008 - 1:39 pm

"If Lesnar wins, he will be nothing more than a white Kimbo Slice"-I'll do my best to elaborate on what a foolish statement that is. If you saw any of Brock Lesnar's 3 round destruction of Heath Herring you would see that this man is someone to be taken seriously. Even in his loss to Frank Mir it should have been obvious that had Mir not secured the ankle lock he was in for some serious trouble. The mere though of trying to compare a life long athlete and a bare knuckle brawler is insane. Not once has EliteXC given Kimbo a legitimate opponent. Bo Cantrell anyone??? Yet here is Brock Lesnar, whose first fight in tyhe UFC is against a former champion. And of course his second fight was supposed to be against Mark Coleman, another former champion. And you try to cheapen what Brock is capable of by comparing him to an over rated under-achiever??? Please, next time try to have at least a little background knowledge of what you are discussing and not just regurgitate something you heard someone else say.

6. mr mcCluckCluck
November 12, 2008 - 11:30 pm

The white kimbo slice comment was pretty dumb but let's be honest, Lesner doesn't in any imaginable way deserve to be in this match. Yes he may have a good chance in this fight because he is talented but he isn't experienced enough and simply hasn't paid his dues in the sport, or should we now refer to this spectacle as sports entertainment? No other legitimate *organization would give such an unproven commodity a shot at the top. Don't get me wrong. I think Brock has a better than even shot in this match. But given Randy's age and lack of activity over the last year and a half, there are probably a dozen heavyweights under contract who would have just as good a chance and based on the dues they have paid should get that chance.

Dana the prick is doing exactly what he chastised pro-elite for, which is selling out the sport for a quick buck and hope that his prize isn't exposed as a wannabe before maximum profit can be achieved. How Vince of him.

7. TheIncredibleHank
November 13, 2008 - 11:50 am

Anyone else care for a slice of white bread? Lesnar has a history of quitting occupations he has tried. That is well documented. The Mir fight was a loss for Lesnar because he tapped out. It doesn't matter how battered Mir looked, Lesnar still lost. That victory should never be taken away from Mir. The second fight with Heath Herring, Herring was out of shape and took the fight on short notice. Herring was served up as a tomato can for Lesnar. Dana White was coddling Lesnar, basically handpicking his opponents. Yet, he has the nerve of criticize Kimbo Slide and the operations of Elite XC. Dana White is a bald Vinnie Mac. White is greedy to promote this fight so quickly. Each man should have had a tune-up fight before this one. Lesnar is talking smack like he's the champ. In fact, Lesnar has done nothing to help promote the fight. Couture is a gentleman to help promote the fight by speaking to Sportsnet and Fox's "The Best Damn Sports Show". This is a clear indication of what kind of champion is suppose to act. Don't forget Couture is 9-1 as an underdog. Lesnar's record is just over .500. White better tell Lesnar that there are no jobbers in MMA. If Lesnar is victorious, then he can prove my comments were "dumb" and "ridiculious". But I highly doubt that. And I won't be "dumb" or "ridiculious" to pay 50 dollars for this over-hyped event.

8. D.G.
November 13, 2008 - 2:38 pm

Again....Why was Lesnar even granted this match in the first place? Who's he beat? Kim and Herring? Two guys perpetually out of shape? One of which, has twice the amount of defeats as he does wins? Even if he does beat Couture, it's only because Couture is 45 YEARS OLD, and substantially smaller than him. Course, having said that, Sylvia thought he was going to blow through Randy, too. And we all know what happened there.

9. OSH ryan
November 14, 2008 - 9:02 pm

Well at least Mr. Pollock can see the big picture with the PPV unlike ramdeen the TOOL. And I also dont understand why Brock gets a title shot before Kongo but it is as it is and I will be watching and yes even the undercards. Lesnar is HUGE AND STRONG. If Randy can keep it standing and moving he wins, but thats if he can. I sure hope so. Go Couture.

10. zooga
November 15, 2008 - 1:31 am

brock is gonna get it .

11. kopn
November 15, 2008 - 10:25 pm

I really don't understand how brock gets a title shot after one win and one loss. why doesn't mir get the title shot

12. john crapdeen
November 16, 2008 - 3:45 am

pollock pullscock

13. D.G.
November 16, 2008 - 4:49 am

It honestly should have been Mir-Randy. MHO. At least Mir's held the belt before.

14. JOHN IM A FAG POLLOCK
November 17, 2008 - 9:48 pm

YOUR A FUCKIN DOUCHE POLLOCK LOOKS LIKE U SHOULD BE PLAYING WARCRAFT INSTEAD OF TALKIN BOUT FIGHTING WHO THE FUCK GAVE U YOUR JOB... CHUMP

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