Brock Lesnar completely followed in Randy Couture’s footsteps Saturday night by becoming the UFC champion in his 4th fight. Couture accomplished the same feat when he entered into the sport and defeated Maurice Smith to win the UFC heavyweight title.
It’s a very impressive feat for Lesnar, who now becomes the man everyone is gunning for at heavyweight. Although he didn’t deserve the title shot, after only one win in the UFC and three fights under his belt, Lesar made the most of his golden opportunity to secure the heavyweight strap.
The scary part is how far he has to improve. His striking is basic and BJJ perhaps even more rudimentary. When you add years of training with top notch individuals to his arsenal of outstanding wrestling, gigantic size, unreal power and strength, speed and natural athleticism, you have a great career ahead to look forward to.
Next up for Lesnar will be the winner of Nogueira vs Mir.
It’s a good choice to pick Joe Stevenson in this situation. Here’s how the fight breaks down:
STRIKING
Kenny Florian is the better striker. He has the technical advantage and reach over “Joe Daddy.” While Florian isn’t a knockout artist, he is a TKO cut artist using his abnormally sharp elbows to slit his way to victory. The best example would be his cut win over Alex Karalexis where he opened up a huge gash over his fellow TUF 1 alumnus. He might not knock you out but he could cut you or outpoint you.
GRAPPLING
This is even. Both fighters are brilliant BJJ stylists. Joe Stevenson is a compact and unusually strong fighter for his weight. His sub skills are top notch. Florian is a great submission fighter and a rear naked choke specialist in the Octagon. They’re both very good and will negate one another.
CARDIO
Florian went 5 rounds with Sean Sherk, 5 hard rounds. And this was before his cardio went to the next level in training. Stevenson should be good to go for this fight, but there was that one time he did not look superb against Josh Neer, and because of that one off night we have to give the edge to Florian in this one, who appears to always come in sublime condition. So far this looks like Florian has the edge in this fight, but the next element of the bout will be the key component.
WRESTLING
This is Stevenson’s edge and will be the determining factor in this fight. Stevenson will be able to take down Florian with his exceptional wrestling skill. Interestingly both fighters are pretty dangerous in this position. Stevenson’s ground and pound is vicious and he is famous for being the source of one of biggest bloodbaths to grace the UFC Octagon. He split open Yves Edwards in their bout and withdrew about a quart of blood from the Bahamian fighter in the process to stop the fight. Florian with his razor sharp “bows”, has cut his way to victory even off his back. We can recall the nasty cut he opened up stabbing Joe Lauzon with elbows from his back. Nonetheless, Stevenson is more dangerous from up top and will win it from there via points.
THE OUTCOME
Both guys are finishers but hard to be finished. They will fight hard and take this to the distance. What will give Stevenson the edge is his ability to decide where this fight will go, and it will go to the ground, where he will outpoint Florian to victory.
WINNER: Joe Stevenson by unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28
Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar to me seems a tough fight to pick a winner in. You have a 45-year-old veteran to the sport facing off against one of the biggest fighters in the UFC, Brock Lesnar. Brock Lesnar has only had 3 professional MMA bouts; one of them was a loss via submission to Frank Mir. There is no doubt in my mind that if Lesnar used his movement a bit better like in his fight against Heath Herring then he would currently be sitting undefeated in the MMA world.
Since his fight with Mir I believe that Brock has learnt a few things, at least I hope he has. Hopefully those things will prove he is able to be the champion of the UFC in only his fourth fight.
I would like to see Randy Couture defeat Lesnar but to me power will beat the experience, especially when the guy with experience is 45-years-old.
Couture can never be counted out of any fight he’s in, and this one is no different. It’s going to be an all out war through multiple rounds. He’s going to test Lesnar’s chin with strikes early, and the key to this entire fight is whether or not Brock Lesnar can not only take those punches, but absorb them and keep fighting his fight.
If Brock Lesnar can withstand the initial onslaught that Couture will bring, then this is his fight to lose. I honestly don’t see Couture being able to physically overpower Brock in the ground game in order to impose his will. In fact, more often than not in this fight it’s going to be the opposite happening.
Despite his inexperience, despite the fact that this is only his fourth professional fight, and despite the fact that he may not deserve this shot so early in his career, I think Brock Lesnar wins this fight. I think he’s going be too much for Couture on the ground as they get into the later rounds. A combination of knees and body shots from Lesnar will open enough opportunities while wrestling to gain the mount position, and unlike in the Herring fight, Lesnar will utilize the ground and pound to force the ref to stop it, giving him a tko victory late in the fourth round.
So there you have it, Lesnar by tko in the fourth….
Here is another UFC 91 prediction from a member of the MMA Media, Kris Karkoski of MMAFrenzy.com
“Though Couture, at 45-years-old, has many factors working against him including age, size, speed, and athletic ability the UFC heavyweight champion has a significant advantage in experience and I think he’s able to craft a gameplan to defeat Lesnar. In MMA anything can happen and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time as a fan and blogger of the sport it’s Couture’s ability to overcome the odds time and time again. Couture’s shown he can defeat bigger opponents and though Lesnar is the biggest fighter he’ll have faced in his professional career, cutting to make the 265-pound limit, I think Couture survives an early onslught and TKO’s Lesnar in the championship rounds.”
The UFC celebrates their 15th anniversary today. Here are the 10 most significant events in UFC history.
UFC 1 takes place. November 12, 1993. Denver, Colorado witnesses the beginning of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “Bloodsport”, “There are no rules”, a bunch of heavily hyped up verbiage surrounding what would be the origin of the sport in North America.
Royce Gracie wins the first UFC tourney. November 12, 1993. Showing the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Royce Gracie defeated Art Jimmerson, Ken Shamrock and Gerard Gordeau to become the first UFC champion. He shook up the martial arts world and introduced BJJ to huge audience.
Mark Coleman wins UFC 11. September 20, 1996. With his tournament win, Coleman won 4 straight fights in the UFC and 2 straight tournaments. He showed how effective wrestlers could be in the sport and basically patented a blueprint for future wrestlers to use in the sport—score takedowns and pound your opponent, while avoiding submissions. He became the “godfather of ground and pound” and an inspiration for a whole new wave of wrestlers to come into the game.
UFC 12 takes place in Alabama after being banned in 36 states after Senator John McCain’s campaign to ban “Ultimate Fighting.” February 7, 1997. The UFC was dropped from the major cable pay-per-view distributor Viewer’s Choice, and cable carriers such as TCI Cable. 36 states set up laws banning “no-holds-barred” fighting, including New York, which set up the ban on the eve of UFC 12, forcing the event to be set in Dothan, Alabama.
Maurice Smith defeats Mark Coleman by decision at UFC 14.July 27, 1997. Just as Coleman showed how effective wrestling could be, Maurice Smith did the same for kickboxing at UFC 14 when he defeated Coleman by outstriking the wrestler after 21 minutes of fighting. Smith showed that a great striker with a solid takedown defence could beat a wrestler or BJJ stylist. Gracie showed the greatness of BJJ, Coleman of wrestling, and Smith of striking. Together they formed the basis that is the foundation of MMA. They were 3 of the most potent forces driving the evolution of the sport to where it is today.
UFC holds its first sanctioned event. November 17, 2000. The UFC held its first sanctioned event under the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board’s “Unified Rules”. These rules were the basis for all the guidelines to be followed at all future UFC events.
Zuffa takes over the UFC from SEG. January, 2001. With Sephamore Entertainment Group on the verge of bankruptcy, Station Casino owners Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, alongside long-time friend and boxing manager and gym owner Dana White purchased the fledgling organization for $2 millon. Zuffa, LLC would be the parent company under which the 3 men would run the brand.
The Ultimate Fighter reality series hits Spike TV. January 18, 2005. This would create what is the current MMA phenomenon and mass appeal of the UFC. In January 2005 the UFC brought reality MMA to Spike TV and it would change their fate completely. Mainstream appeal on a whole new level began.
UFC buys out Pride. March 27, 2007. Taking out their biggest competition by purchasing them, the UFC successfully squashed and dissolved Pride Fighting Championships, based out of Japan. The UFC became far and away the leader in MMA worldwide. This allowed them access to fighters such as Quinton Jackson, Anderson Silva, Wanderlei Silva, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, amongst others.
Lorenzo Fertitta resigns from Station Casinos to work full-time with the UFC. June 18, 2008.
Leaving his role as president of one of the most successful casino chains in Las Vegas, Fertitta decides to focus on expanding the UFC into countries such as Italy, France, Spain, Germany, Russa, Dubai, as well as Asian giants such as Chin, South Korea, Japan and India. Fertitta noted,
“Think about this for a second: India has 350 million men between the ages of 18 and 34, and that’s our key demographic…The magnitude of these markets is staggering.”
Here is another UFC 91 prediction from a member of the MMA Media, Pramit of FightTicker.com:
“While it might be easy to scoff at Brock Lesnar’s relative MMA inexperience going into his title fight against Randy Couture at UFC 91, Lesnar is certainly no Kimbo Slice. In fact, while it’s not necessarily easy for me to say this, Lesnar has proven in his short career that he might actually deserve the hype.
Lesnar is only 1-1 in the UFC but both fights showed us a fighter with innate talent that may be difficult for future opponents to overcome as Lesnar adds experience and more tools to his skillset. Lesnar is already a very, very solid wrestler but he also has tremendous strength, quickness, and athleticism. Add to that what appears to be a developing stand-up game (see his right hand that caught Heath Herring) as well as good cardio fitness and what you have is the makings of a true force in the fight game.
Does Lesnar have a lot to learn? Yes. We haven’t seen much in the way of his stand-up game (beyond that right) and no evidence of any real submission game or the ability to defend or attack on his back.
Which leads us to Couture. While Couture is getting up there in age and has been off from the fight game since his dominating title defense victory over Gabriel Gonzaga in 2007 (a span of over a year now) and has been tangled up in legal battles during that time, Couture is the consummate thinking man and professional. He can compete at a high level no matter where the fight goes. And, we all know Couture will walk in with a flawless gameplan. Couture has already proven (in defeating Tim Sylvia earlier in 2007) that he can take time off and not get rusty and that he can more than hold his own against the bigger fighters. So, I don’t believe age or cage-rust will be factors in this fight.
I’ve counted out Couture before and I’ve been wrong and regretted it. This time, I’m going with the wily veteran to win a grueling five-round decision over the man who may be the future of the division.”
Here’s the case Brock Lesnar defenders are making for the man they feel will by the next UFC heavyweight champion:
SIZE.
The sheer mass of a 275 pound fighter will be very difficult for Randy Couture to deal with. He had problems in the past with bigger heavyweights and found his home at 205. There is no bigger a heavyweight than Lesnar. This is something Couture must be prepared to deal with. And it’s hard to simulate that gargantuan size in the gym.
STRIKING POWER.
Randy Couture is the better striker based on past experience, but Brock Lesnar is the powerful one. He sent Heath Herring flying in their bout and Frank Mir was hammer with a big fist of Lesnar as well. Couture migt be able to outstrike Lesnar from a technical standpoint but the power game belongs to Brock.
STRENGTH
Controlling guys in the clinch has been Couture’s bread and butter, but Lesnar will be very difficult to do so. His strength is unreal and it will cause many problems for Couture in this fight. Technique overcomes strength most of the time, but sometimes there are exceptions. Brock Lesnar and his ungodly genetics might just be one of those.
WRESTLING
Couture might taste his own medicine this fight. Taking guys down and grounding and pounding the hell out of them has been Captain America’s calling card for years. This time around he is facing a bigger, stronger, faster and more talented wrestler who is 15 years younger than him. All these factors make for a very explosive wrestler who can take down and hold down Couture and pound him.
SPEED
When you have a supremely talented wrestler who is an incredibly gifted athlete and has massive size and strength, you have an extremely tough problem as a heavyweight opponent. When you say a 275 pound fighter is going to be fighting you might assume he’s a big lumbering beast who is slow on his feet, but Lesnar has amazing speed behind him. He is going to be hard to stop, and difficult to outmaneuver. Couture can no longer use any speed he may have used in the past for offensive and defensive tactics. He’s fast and as long as he doesn’t slow down as time goes on in the fight, he will use this competitive advantage to his victory.
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