How good was Randy Couture?

[Yrat]

Randy Couture was that fighter who brought a lot of attention worldwide for his age and still deliver the best fights in UFC. He started his career in Japan and lost to Valentijn Overeem by guillotine.

For me he was the best role model for UFC compare to Conor and Sean o Mailey as we see today. Randy VS Chuck was everything except hate speeches.

My questions for you are

- How would Randy do in Pride Fc 205 lbs if he would have fought in that tournament 2003 instead of Chuck Liddell if he had to face Murilo Bustamante and Quinton Jackson had to face Alistair Overeem?

- Should Randy have keep fighting in heavyweight after 2005? Fighting opponents like Jeff Monson and eventually fighting Tim Sylvia 2006 just like Jeff Monson did?

- Do you think he should never accept that fight against Brock Lesnar or did he not had any choice after that lobby to fight Fedor Emelianenko?

In my opinion Dana should let Randy fighting for that pride Fc 205 lbs tournament instead of Chuck Liddell. However if his first opponent was Alistair Overeem It could be a difficult fight for Randy especially when he lost to his brother and Alistair was way more better in stand up compare to other opponents Randy fought back then

- If Randy fought in Pride heavyweight tournament and his opponent was Murilo Ninja would he handle him?

For me all I remember from Randy was his clinch game and eventually go for takedowns, he was not that strong in stand up. Do you agree?

 

[PalmStrike]

I never felt that Randy was really good but he was a tough SOB and a lot of guys simply wilted when faced with the task of outlasting him.

Could he have exhausted Rampage and Overreem? I think so.

Bustamante im not so sure.

Randy did out strike Chuck once.

 

[genecop]

TLDR…Randy was a good representative of the sport, a really good grappler…and a decent striker…
In before naked Randy photo..

 

[Coolkid666]

Why was he already bald at age 30 though. That's the real question burning in everyone's mind right now.

 

[WhosTheBoss]

He was a natural at it

 

[DoctorDeelon]

Randy gets criminally underrated and forgotten about due to his record I think. The thing that made Randy so great was him overcoming the odds time and time again. I don't think there's anyone with more major upsets than Randy. Beating Vitor when Vitor was looked at as the unstoppable future. Beating Mo Smith. TKOing Randleman. Beating Rizzo twice. Getting his ass whipped at HW and then reinventing himself at LHW by upsetting Chuck and Tito back to back. Then when people thought he was done for good, upsetting Tim Syliva and whipping Gonzaga. Unfortunately I think it's kinda got lost on a lot of the newer fans how impressive these wins were at the time.

1. I think Randy would have had a tougher time under Pride rules, that favored action and scored the fight as a whole. Him vs prime Bustamente is a toss up for me, I could see Murilo catching him in a sub off his back, or I could see Randy just controlling the position and putting a GnP beatdown on him.

2. I don't know if he should have gone to HW in 2005 because I think Arlovski and Mir may have been poison for him.

3. I don't think it was that big of a mistake to accept the fight with Brock. If Brock didn't land the KO blow I could see Randy tiring him out and getting the W.

4. I think Randy would have beaten Ninja no prob.

 

[Cormiers towel]

Why was he already bald at age 30 though. That's the real question burning in everyone's mind right now.

I also have suspicion that he was lying about his height

 

[315MMAFighter]

Randy was a badass

 

[Poatan Power]

HW champion multiple times

LHW champion multiple times

Won UFC 13 tournament

Submitted James Toney and defended MMA honor

Defended his title multiple times

He was DC before DC existed

 

[Simple Southerner]

Top 10ish hw of all time

 

[BFoe]

Very close to top 10 HW all time. Might be in the top 10.

—Yes, he’d have handled Ninja Rua
—If he’d been in the 2003 PRIDE LHW GP, it’s very possible that he’d have won the whole thing.
—I think he had no choice by to fight Brock after his attempt to fight Fedor failed.

 

[gaffbyknees2]

He was no jerkoff that's for sure.

 

[blurple]

He was no jerkoff that's for sure.

 

[Corrado Soprano]

Couture was good at cheating on his wife and doing steroids.

 

[Vil7]

Yeah Randy was a great wrestler with a good clinch/dirty boxing game & decent striking. He was very tough too & I think his best asset of all was game planning & being disciplined & intelligent enough to stick to those game plans during the fight. He had a couple upsets in fights I expected him to lose. He beat Gonzaga when he was borderline champion material. I picked against Randy in that 1 because he had a history of struggling against larger grapplers & also because Gonzaga's standup at that time was good especially his kicks. Couture always seemed really likeable on camera with his humble demeanor. It doesn't have anything to do with fighting but he was a good ambassador for the sport.

 

[DOMMA]

Pre USADA Randy, even at 44, was a legit challenge for anyone, 205 through heavyweight. Great clinch, wrestling and cardio. Serviceable stand-up.

 

[Chesten_Hesten]

He failed at business.

Could've had his own onlyfans, but posted everything for free.

Shoulda learned from WMMA.

 

[DOMMA]

Couture was good at cheating on his wife and doing steroids.

 

[ramair455]

"Dirty Boxing" is to Randy Couture as is...
"Ground & Pound" is to Mark Coleman

 

[Aranha21]

Not bad for an old man.