Randy Couture — the opportunistic veteran that he is inside cage — also learned a thing or two during his 43 years about how to get inside the heads of his opponents.
It’s not brash and over the top vis-a-vis a guy like Nick Diaz. On the contrary, it’s more subliminal and certainly more professional.
Since his return and upcoming fight with Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 was announced earlier this year, Couture has been very candid about the reasons he thinks he will be successful on March 3.
Of course, most of us have already heard that Couture sees holes in the champ’s game and that he is not going to let him coast to another victory.
In no uncertain terms, Couture has promised to make Sylvia fight and earn a victory the hard way — something that “The Natural” and many others feel he hasn’t done in his last two bouts with Andrei Arlovski and Jeff Monson.
It’s an issue that has clearly irritated Sylvia. And, perhaps one that might make him press the action and force him to make mistakes come fight time.
Who knows.
Equally interesting — but not getting anywhere near the same amount of ink — is the pre-existing relationship between Couture and Sylvia.
Steve Seivert in his Brawl Sports blog over at the Houston Chronicle sheds a little more light on the subject.
Here’s a snip:
… Couture believes “The Maine-iac” is struggling with having to face a guy who’s counted as a close friend. That could give the hall-of-famer a mental edge heading into fight night. The two trained together several years ago when Couture lived in Oregon. Sylvia crashed at Couture’s house and the two forged a bond that was strengthened during the second season of The Ultimate Fighter, when they appeared as guest coaches.
And a snip from Couture:
“We developed a strong friendship and as most fighters do, we have camaraderie amongst each other. That is probably causing more problems for Tim than it is for me. I’m used to fighting and competing against my friends. Tim doesn’t have that wrestling background where that happens on a regular basis; so I’m sure that friendship is messing with his head a little bit right now.”
Sylvia has mentioned in recent interviews that he considers Couture a “mentor.” So, will that affect what happens inside the Octagon?
Again, who knows.
It’s no surprise that Couture is pulling out all the stops to get a mental edge over Sylvia. That’s because physically — on paper — Couture will be fighting an uphill battle for five rounds — if it even lasts that long.
I always wonder if the prefight talk ever affects the outcomes of certain fights. Unfortunately, it’s probably a factor for which we will never truly know the answer.
I do know that all the craftiness, tricks and experience in the world can’t erase Couture’s last two knockouts to Chuck Liddell and spotty performances in the heavyweight division more than four years ago.
Without a doubt, he’ll be in the shit (no pun intended) on March 3.
As Sylvia put it in a recent interview with FightNews.com:
“He [Couture] doesn’t have an easy road ahead of him. He is fighting the best heavyweight in the world. He is definitely in for a tough time.”
And, if the fight doesn’t go his way, Couture “hasn’t ruled out dropping down to light heavy,” according to Seivert.
Oh my …
18 Comments »
I think this will be an interesting fight. I’m not going to bash anyone or call anyones skills into question here. These are both tier 1 fighters no matter how you look at it. The only negative to this fight that has been mentioned is that this fight is sort of a filler because of Brandon’s situation.May the best man win even if they do poo their pants.
I’m sorry but if this is what the UFC is selling, I aint buying. It’s not about quality, its about what they think the fans wanna see. Just like Dana saying the fans dont know Shogun, he wants names against names, not quality vs quality.
This fight will be over so quick, you’ll wonder where that $40 went. Just pray you lose your satellite feed so you can get your $$$ back.
What’s next, Dan Severn, Tank, and Pedro Rizzo?
I really am not a “Pride guy”, I am an MMA fan. But the UFC just makes me scratch my head sometimes. What really kills me is that the TUF crowd and the “No one will ever beat Liddell” ppl will pay for this thinking they’re seeing the best MMA has to offer.
Over with 6 mins.
I want Randy to win, but after a few unsuccesful take down attempts - he will begin to look like a forty three year old man with a big problem.
to morethanufc, i know you saw pride 33…shogun vs overeem??who wanted to see that, it was predictable..mac danzig vs sakarui, also very weak, then you have fights that looked very weak like lil nog vs african assasin, and diaz vs Gomi and they ended up being the show stoppers….in putting these fights together its gonna happen…people are gonna seem bored before the fights even take place, lets just hope these guys bring it with Diaz mentality
This is going to be silly. A year ago no one would even think Couture vs. Arlovsky. Why now is Couture in Tim’s league?
Dude, actually the Rua vs Overeem fight to me was one I wanted to see. Not that I thought Rua would lose, but I wanted to see how he adjusted to US regs and also which Overeem would show up. He is a very good fighter, when he wants to be. Mach vs Danzig was a joke, no doubt.
But this UFC is nothing but a joke:
Tim Sylvia Vs. Randy Couture
A QUALITY heavyweight against a guy who was washed up when he retired, couldnt fight the HWs before that, and couldnt match up with the LHW champ when he moved down.
Chris Lytle Vs. Matt Hughes
Tuf crowd fight
Drew McFedries Vs. Martin Kampmann
I dont care what Kampmann’s bloated record is, if McFed loses it will be because he trips up the steps entering the Octagon.
Another fight for the TUF crowd.
Jason Lambert Vs. Renato Sobral
Ok, it’s Babalu so any fight will be good, and Lambert’s a pretty good fighter, so finally a good one, but PPV quality?
Rich Franklin Vs. Jason MacDonald
Yup, PPV quality and a fight I wanna see. Still aint paying $40 for 2 good fights.
Only other good fight on the card I have any interest in is the Fitch fight, and that may not air.
You know, I always used to think this “head game” shit was all a bunch of b.s. But Im starting to think it plays a bigger role then I first assumed. For example, the fight between Hughes St.Pierre. GSP said it would be different the second time because he was fighting his idol before and he couldnt even look him in the eye come stare down time. Hughes said GSP made a mistake, and got caught and that was why he lost. But would he have made the mistake if he wasnt intimidated psychologically? I think it might play on Tim, but not much, Randy might be his friend, but not as close of a friend to Tim as his belt is. More then ufc-I respect your veiws on the card, I just wanted to say I heard about the Randy/Tim fight from my friend who called me up to tell me when it was a rumour still. The guy said he couldnt believe it and probably wouldnt sleep tonight. Im didnt really see why either, but to some people this is a huge fight. I think its a great match-up. Consider me $40$ poorer
yeah mtufc im not totally going against you here, but to be honest before the Diaz Gomi fight, i was think wow, Nick Diaz, who just lost his last 3 of 4 fights in the ufc against the top lightweight in the world..why would PRIDE make such an uneven match…no matter how much you like Diaz or like how he fights, on paper it looked uneven and then it turned out to be the best fight ive seen in awhile…now what if that happens with Couture Sylvia, im not saying it will, but im not counting it out, and i definately want to be watching it live just in case Couture can work his magic again, ya know, might just be me
Let’s not forget St. Pierre v.s Hughes first fight. Hughes was a “mentor” for St.Pierre and that really played a part in the outcome of that fight.
Couture always shows up in incredible shape and has made a career of beating the unbeatable.
I see Tim Sylvia tiring. Couture has a great clinch, Dirty boxing style and he’s deceptively strong. We’ve never seen Couture tire.
There is a Rocky style UFC story happen’n and I’m buyin in on this PPV
Randy!!! Just watch out for those knees in the clinch.
Love ya Randy but how come you never said your gonna be the new heavy weight champ? You keep saying I’m gonna make him fight for it and not just coast. Your not saying I’m gonna be two weight class champ one more time. You keep saying your gonna make him earn the title. I’m gonna be watching saturday but the queston I have is are you gonna really go out there and try to take Tim’s head off or you gonna make him work to keep the title? I remember the ole Randy saying he was gonna destroy them….and you did.
Randy has never said that was gonna detroy anyone Tommy, hes always been humble and said what hes gonna do, and what the other fighter needs to do t beat him….i dont know where youre getting that
“I see Tim Sylvia tiring. Couture has a great clinch, Dirty boxing style and he’s deceptively strong. We’ve never seen Couture tire.”
When has Sylvia tired? How is Couture gonna clich a guy 6′8″?
Watch a Fedor HL and watch how a guy about Couture’s size fights the big boys. Then ask yourself, can Couture do that to Sylvia? If you answer yes, log off, call 911, and tell them you need medical attention.
Sylvia seems to “start” his fights tired. I’m not saying that Couture is going to muscle Sylvia, Jeff Monson trained with Intocombat’s Rhadi Ferguson (Olympian Monster) for that fight, if you lose training with Rhadi, it’s not because youre out of shape.
Monson, an incredible grappler and top of the line submission’s expert couldn’t get in a position to use any of his skills. At the end of the fight Monson was in good shape, but his face looked like hamburger.
dusty_irish makes a good point (in regards to Hughes-St.Pierre) Big Tim seems to be stuggling mentally. Listen, these two men have trained together so they should have a good idea of where the other is at and Randy seems to be the more confident. In the first Liddell v.s Ortiz fight, Lidell knew he would beat Ortiz so did Tito.
Fedor is not Randy, there are two different styles and backgrounds there, same goes for Sylvia and Semmy Shilt or Heath Herring, So instead of crying about this pay per view or telling people to log off, don’t get the event and shut up.
2 days left! i would like to see couture win, but i don’t think it’s gonna happen. sylvia has the stand up game for sure, seeing how most of his wins resulted in knockout. He has the reach advantage and is a better striker, but i’m worried about his stance. his stance is not very balanced, and he may be easily taken down by couture. and if they end up on the ground it may be couture’s fight.
I never said he was disrespectful mma dude but he has many times predicted to be the winner and champion. I also collect all ufc on dvd and can tell you go back and watch his pre fight interviews and compare them to the words he’s saying this time. Both respectful to be sure but he guaranteed victory before (even in 57 when he rematched Liddell for the third time and blamed a finger in the eye to his loss in 52) and compare that to his pre fight talk now.
Lytle VS Hughes:
This probably the most bullshit fight on the card. I’ve seen Lytle fight before and he strikes me as the kind of guy who fights to survive, not to win. Hughes is gonna blow through him easily.
McDonald VS Franklin:
I wasn’t too keen on McDonald even when I saw him beat Ed Herman. However, I was pretty impressed when he choked out Leben, which is no small feat for an new-comer like him. While I think Franklin is clearly the superior striker, and probably will win, I still believe McDonald will give him a little trouble.
Couture VS Silvia:
This is hard for me to call. I want Couture to win so bad and agree with what he said about Tim just wanting to hold on to the belt. But even still, Sylvia is 6′8″, very strong, and very quick for a guy his size and I have my doubts as to whether or not Couture has the physical ability to deal with Sylvia. I think Couture will see the fight til the end, but I dont know if he will be able to put Sylvia away.
Screw it i was wrong here. guess the old man just doesn’t need to talk.