Did Randy Couture have any weakness as a fighter aside from being old?

[SomethingCringetastic]

He was the Bruce Springstein of MMA, whatever that means

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

His weaknesses were

Stiff/inflexible
Not that fast or agile
Weak submission game
Weak kicking/kneeing/elbowing game
Very limited wrestling (to the greco roman style only)

I agree with everything bar the limited wrestling. He took down everyone he fought (until late into his career) and had 1 of the best wrestling games developed for MMA.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

That fight ruled. Nog shut him out but it was action packed and fun.

He was also old as shit. I honestly don't hold any losses against him from Brock onwards.
Realistically he had no right even being competitive at his age.

 

[Big Tuppy Hole]

View attachment 1074428 Kick to set up the big bomb

Dan used the same combo on Bisping

 

[KBE6EKCTAH_CCP]

- Olympic alternate Greco Roman wrestler

-learned boxing in the army. Outstruck the karateka/brawler Chuck Lidell in the first fight

- good chin

- Mentally solid


Why did he lose so many fights despite having no glaring weakness?

And what happened in that second Liddell fight? What the hell was he doing? Did he have a brain lapse? Loss of concentration?

Well he made the most out of being rather one sided.

 

[J'Ghasta]

I agree with everything bar the limited wrestling. He took down everyone he fought (until late into his career) and had 1 of the best wrestling games developed for MMA.

Compared to freestyle it is limited. Just a fact. He had really good greco roman wrestling; Im not disputing that.

 

[J'Ghasta]

Dang, that's pretty brutal and critical for a guy who started at age 33-34 in the late 90s and peaked in the early 2000s when skillsets weren't that well developed. The fact Randy beat so many other wrestlers (Tito, Randleman, Van Arsdale, Coleman) proved he was pretty well-rounded and the best wrestler of his size and generation. Brock was the only wrestler to beat him. Brock obviously had a big edge in size/strenth and youth, though Randy was much more experienced.

The intention wasnt to be brutally critical. The thread just asked for his weaknesses while pretending he didnt have any so I pointed some of them out. But yes, what he accomplished was amazing all things considered.

 

[Tweak896]

Besides age, he had everything. Good head movement, great wrestling, cardio, and bjj defense towards the end. Not to mention he had legendary gameplanning. He was one of my favorite fighters to watch because he was always supposed to lose and pulled it off. He's a unique case where he gets forgotten but was one of the best to do it.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

He came to UFC when most guys these days say they are retiring because of age. That puts a lot of it into context. I've seen some of his wrestling when he was much younger and he was much more agile and faster. He got into MMA very late, always lacked agility and quick reflexes.

He always fought the best guys as well, so he did really well when you think about it, he was 2 months from being 35 in his debut. We think guys are nearly finished these days at that

 

[Changeisinevitable]

He wasn't always old but did always have very average striking. Dude was a stud in his era but was never able to develop his striking to a level that would translate to success in the modern era.

Hated him during his time as I was always team chuck. Strange to have started liking him when looking back on his career.

 

[mkt]

Not to mention he had legendary gameplanning.

His "dirty boxing" against Vitor was like MMA's (then called NHB) version of Ali's "rope-a-dope." What was really impressive was the sport was only 4 years old at the time. It's not like he had a lot of previous fights or experience to draw from.

 

[TheTickG]

- Olympic alternate Greco Roman wrestler

-learned boxing in the army. Outstruck the karateka/brawler Chuck Lidell in the first fight

- good chin

- Mentally solid


Why did he lose so many fights despite having no glaring weakness?

And what happened in that second Liddell fight? What the hell was he doing? Did he have a brain lapse? Loss of concentration?

Considering his first three losses, jiujitsu was a weakness.
Considering three of his other losses, not being 250 pounds was a weakness.
As for the second Liddell fight. He got poked in the eye, two minutes later, he was unconscious. Complete mystery what happened...

 

[mkt]

Considering his first three losses, jiujitsu was a weakness.
Considering three of his other losses, not being 250 pounds was a weakness.
As for the second Liddell fight. He got poked in the eye, two minutes later, he was unconscious. Complete mystery what happened...

His submission defense improved a lot, though, unlike Coleman, Randleman and other Hammer House guys who never really evolved much after 1997.

 

[lweiberg]

Never recovered from JOVID. But who could?

 

[Taric]

Good observation but correlation does not imply causation.

All those fighters were larger than him and also out grappled him, that is the definition of cause and effect.

Excluding Gonzaga the HWs he beat were all strikers.

 

[orca]

he should be the much faster fighter but hes slow for a MW sized fighter
hes like hendo

just imagine guys like cain and dc that are much more agile than him

 

[Intermission]

All those fighters were larger than him and also out grappled him, that is the definition of cause and effect.

Excluding Gonzaga the HWs he beat were all strikers.

But couldnt that be due to age discrepancy

 

[Intermission]

His "dirty boxing" against Vitor was like MMA's (then called NHB) version of Ali's "rope-a-dope." What was really impressive was the sport was only 4 years old at the time. It's not like he had a lot of previous fights or experience to draw from.

Couture had actual fights in boxing

 

[pamirec]

It didn’t really look like he had any weakness compared to the competitors at that time. Inconsistence was his biggest problem imo.

 

[Hog-train]

HIs standup is not that great.