Throwback Randy Couture vs Gabriel Gonzaga retrospect

[AmericanMMA]

Randy was a beast. It wasn't Randy vs CC like we all wanted, but that is because Gonzaga took care of business.

 

[mkt]

I'd favor him over Gane, Tuivasa, Spivak, Volkov, Lewis

Blaydes has been taken down on 3 of 4 attempts in his UFC career, so it would've been interesting to see what the much smaller Couture would be able to do there.

Don't know enough about Jailton's striking or TDD either.

I agree. That version of Randy would certainly beat some current Top 10. Gonzaga probably would as well. Gonzaga was very hit or miss, so it would depend on his opponent and which version showed up. He had KO power in his hands and feet and good BJJ (he submitted Rothwell and others) but had poor Fight IQ at times and was a front runner (very dangerous early in the fight then tended to fade). Lewis KO'd him in 2016 but that was prime Lewis vs. a very shot Gonzaga.

 

[Arty]

I agree. That version of Randy would certainly beat some current Top 10. Gonzaga probably would as well. Gonzaga was very hit or miss, so it would depend on his opponent and which version showed up. He had KO power in his hands and feet and good BJJ (he submitted Rothwell and others) but had poor Fight IQ at times and was a front runner (very dangerous early in the fight then tended to fade). Lewis KO'd him in 2016 but that was prime Lewis vs. a very shot Gonzaga.

Also, when was the last time we saw someon at age 44 fighting for a heavyweight title in ufc? Also, when was the last time we saw a 28 year old fighting for a heavyweight title?

A lot of thing have happened in mma.

 

[mkt]

he HWs today are bigger than when Randy used to fight too.

Well Tim Sylvia and Gonzaga would stil be big HWs today. Syvlia was 6'8" and usually came in close to 265 (when he was in better shape). I think Gonzaga always weighed around 250 and he was built more solid than a lot of current Pillsbury Dough Boy HWs. However, in Randy's early 2000s HW run, the size of some opponents like Josh Barnett and Ricco did seem to make a difference. Randy was winning both those fights early IIRC but at some point the tables turned and the bigger/younger guys used their size to their advantage.

 

[Huligani]

The Don of wall and stall.
Was never a fan.

He didn't stall, he looked for takedowns and did damage.

And yes 44 year old HW champ Randy beats plenty of guys in today's top 10 which has a lot of bums in it.

 

[mkt]

Also, when was the last time we saw someon at age 44 fighting for a heavyweight title in ufc? Also, when was the last time we saw a 28 year old fighting for a heavyweight title?

A lot of thing have happened in mma.

Glover won the LHW belt at 42 not long ago. Yoel is 46 and just fought for the Bellator LHW belt. It's ususual but certain fighters age well and can modify their style to fit their age if necessary.

 

[mkt]

He didn't stall, he looked for takedowns and did damage.

And yes 44 year old HW champ Randy beats plenty of guys in today's top 10 which has a lot of bums in it.

The Vera fight was the only time Randy annoyed me with wall-n-stall that had minimal activity. But this was after his last HW run. His fight with Gonzaga was a war with both guys taking damage (Gonzaga broke Randy's arm with a kick).

 

[sonhow]

Randy was the smeshing machine of the hw div. People like to call out the record but people dont seem to realize he fought lot of these guys in their peak form. He also had some bad luckin his fights. -Vitor 2, Chuck eyepoke, Lesnar got him in the temple, Barnett roided to the grills, Ricco too etc.
To me he is the epitome why mma is great. Nothing is certain and normie life rules are to be broken.

 

[Leinster Rugby]

He didn't stall, he looked for takedowns and did damage.

And yes 44 year old HW champ Randy beats plenty of guys in today's top 10 which has a lot of bums in it.

He used to land one elbow for every 2 minutes against the cage. He scored very few takedown off the cage.

Don't be offended if someone's opinion is different from yours.

 

[ineverpost]

It wasn't intentional but Randy gave him a brutal headbutt after slamming him into the ground, basically prevented him from breathing right the entire fight.

 

[SamuraiBro]

It wasn't intentional but Randy gave him a brutal headbutt after slamming him into the ground, basically prevented him from breathing right the entire fight.

More guys should do that imo. Dirty move but whatever.

 

[CroCopsLHK]

This was a badass fight. Honestly one of the earlier fights I fell in love with as an MMA fan. Watched it with a bro and we couldn't believe the comeback

 

[Elvis.]

Makes me wonder how Randy vs Cro Cop would’ve gone.

It’s obvious that Crocop was in decline by the time he got to the ufc , but if you look at how much difficulty Randy had with The Iceman I have to figure that a peak Mirko would probably lay Randy out

 

[Chillez]

Makes me wonder how Randy vs Cro Cop would’ve gone.

Dream fight for me that never happened sadly was so excited to see it happen. GG had other plans with one of biggest upsets in MMA history.

 

[Chillez]

Prime Randy at HW would be top 3 heavyweight today his style would translate in any era of MMA.

 

[mkt]

More guys should do that imo. Dirty move but whatever.

It's kind of hard to pull off unintentional moves regularly, though. Rampage took advantage of the headbutt off a slam as well vs. Arona.

 

[Here's Johnny!]

He's allowed to use the same vitamins as back then and everyone today gets tested? He does fine.

 

[mkt]

It’s obvious that Crocop was in decline by the time he got to the ufc , but if you look at how much difficulty Randy had with The Iceman I have to figure that a peak Mirko would probably lay Randy out

Randy is 12 years older than Cro-Cop. Please don't start the "If Cro-Cop lost to a a mid-40s, undersized Randy it's because he was out of prime." It's bad enough when people use that excuse for Fedor against Hendo. Many people here said OWGP Cro-Cop in 2006 was one of the best HWs ever but rapidly aged a year later when he signed a UFC contract....yeah, no.

 

[Elvis.]

Randy is 12 years older than Cro-Cop. Please don't start the "If Cro-Cop lost to a a mid-40s, undersized Randy it's because he was out of prime." It's bad enough when people use that excuse for Fedor against Hendo. Many people here said OWGP Cro-Cop in 2006 was one of the best HWs ever but rapidly aged a year later when he signed a UFC contract....yeah, no.

Well Randy is a very special person to be able to fight to the age he did , I also think that a lot of fighters seemed to decline rapidly when they tried to transition from Pride to ufc for reasons other than age

 

[Tweak896]

Well Tim Sylvia and Gonzaga would stil be big HWs today. Syvlia was 6'8" and usually came in close to 265 (when he was in better shape). I think Gonzaga always weighed around 250 and he was built more solid than a lot of current Pillsbury Dough Boy HWs. However, in Randy's early 2000s HW run, the size of some opponents like Josh Barnett and Ricco did seem to make a difference. Randy was winning both those fights early IIRC but at some point the tables turned and the bigger/younger guys used their size to their advantage.

Very true. I am not sure either, I think modern MMA training has patched some of the easier holes in the game and guys maybe are faster? Power always was the meta though at HW, maybe it's more emphasized today.