As I watched the heavyweight tilt last night, everything seemed to be in place. Randy Couture was dictating the fight against a much bigger, stronger, faster, younger opponent. Pushing the WWE star around like he was Vitor Belfort and opening a cut near Lesnar's right eye, Randy seemed to be up to his same old tricks of dominating as an underdog. Although The Natural wasn't in the same polished form as he was when he dominated Gabe Gonzaga, Randy was winning the fight and was headed toward another victory.
What happened next has the world of MMA sitting in shock still at 5pm the day after...Couture seemed to get in a hurry (much like his second fight with Chuck Liddell) and Lesnar closed his eyes, connected with a punch that landed right behind Randy's ear; game over. The unthinkable happened...how could the albino Bob Sapp beat the sports most accomplished fighter? Welcome to MMA.
The loss is something Randy will come back from...he may stay in the HW division, win a couple more fights, and get one more shot at the strap. I believe he'll move back down to 205 and fight the loser of Quinton Jackson/Wand Silva. Another thought that crossed my mind...Dana will try to put Anderson Silva over by having him come up to 205 again to fight Captain America. Either way...this isn't the last time we'll see Couture battle in the Octagon.
Now for the fallout.
How does Dana White justify having a heavyweight title holder with only 3 fights (4 now) under his jock and freshly off the WWE-Circus tour? Wasn't Dana just bashing Elite XC for promoting the equivalent of the junk yard dog in Kimbo Slice? What will be the answer for all the sports naysayers who look at Lesnar as a freak show in the latest extreme sport flavor of the month? Will the opponents of MMA use this as leverage in arguments related to the sports legitimacy? Finally, what does this do to a future Randy/Fedor match?
I'll give Lesnar the respect he deserves associated with training hard and preparing for the fight. I think Couture wasn't completely focused on this fight...having the distraction of his wife's issues with some idiot from Affliction and relative restraining order only days before the bout. Although he looked comfortable in the Octagon, Randy didn't have the same look in his eyes as he did during his walkout for Tito or Chuck 1.
Nonetheless, it was a pretty good card and night of fights. Gonzaga looked good with an overmatched Hendricks and KenFlo is the best 155er outside of BJ Penn (Tak Gomi included) in the world. Hazelett put up a damn good show against the Barn Cat...earning the Sub of the Night award. For the rest of the event's results (Courtesy MMAWeekly.com).
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