Randy Couture vs. Mark Coleman; as irrelevant as this fight may be to the light heavyweight title picture, we’re still going to get to see 2 legends of the sport square off at UFC 109. Neither fighter is at the top of their game at the moment, but considering that their combined age is 90, that’s to be expected.
However, that being said, both fighters are actually coming off wins, and wins against noteworthy opponents I might add. Randy Couture recently edged out Brandon Vera for a decision victory at UFC 105 and the last time Mark Coleman fought – which was at UFC 100 – he outwrestled and out pointed Stephan Bonnar.
And that’s what makes this particular fight so intriguing – the wrestling ability of these two fighters. Randy Couture, as we all know, is a very accomplished wrestler (three time Olympic team alternate and three time division 1 all American) and he uses those skills perfectly in the octagon. As a matter of fact, he oftentimes uses the octagon cage to his advantage – as we saw against Gabriel Gonzaga back at UFC 74.
Not to be outdone, Mark Coleman has a pretty serious amateur wrestling background himself as he also wrestled in the Olympics, placing 7th overall back in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain. Randy Couture has been inducted into the UFC hall of fame and well, so has Mark Coleman. As a matter of fact, there are only 6 fighters that have been inducted into the prestigious hall of fame and now, we get to see two of them (the only 2 that are currently active by the way) square off in the main event.
As for how I see this fight playing out, well, there’s a good chance that their wrestling ability, being as high calibre as it is, will cancel each other out. In which case, it’ll come down to who’s sharper in the other areas of the game. I believe that of the two, Randy Couture has aged a little bit better as he’s kept himself in phenomenal shape.
His cardio and fight preparation is never to be questioned and with Mark Coleman, the same thing can’t be said – as we watched him gas in his fight with shogun. Coleman trains out of team hammer house, which is a great stable of wrestlers, but it’s not a well versed team like Randy Couture has at his Xtreme Couture facility in Vegas.
Since they may neutralize each other in the wrestling department, there’s a good chance that this fight may be decided on the feet, in which case, I can certainly see Randy Couture getting the better of the stand up. Randy is an excellent boxer and he seems to be a little quicker than Coleman. And while Coleman has some knockouts on his resume, most of those have come by way of ground and pound – which is a technique that he “god-fathered” by the way.
So, all things considered, I’d say that Randy Couture certainly has the edge in this one. He’s a little bit quicker, little bit sharper with his striking and when the odds come out, if they’re anywhere near even, then the smart money should be on Randy Couture.
