I remember an interview before the Couture fight.
Timmy said "Randy has problems with big heavyweights and strikers, and I'm both".
Oops.
To be fair, he was right. I'm a huge Randy fan, but I was terrified for him going into that fight. When he went on that short-lived "Inside the UFC" show that Joe Rogan hosted on Spike and announced (by pointing at either a cardboard cutout or a poster image of Tim) that he was coming out of retirement to fight "the big man," I yelled at the screen, "Are you out of your mind?!"
Barnett and Ricco beat him down, then he goes to LHW and retires on two KO losses to Chuck, then he decides to come back and fight a gigantic striker with phenomenal TDD? I was rooting for Randy, but I was absolutely certain that it'd be a repeat of Tim/Ricco. I didn't think there was any way that Randy would be able to deal with Tim's striking ability/power and I didn't think he'd be able to get inside to secure any takedowns.
I was never as happy to be wrong as I was that night
One of the craziest nights I can remember as a fan.
QFT. When Randy dropped Tim, I jumped up and didn't even notice that I'd remained standing for the entire round. After the round ended, one of the friends I'd ordered the PPV with joked, "You can sit down now," but I told him that I wasn't sitting down until Randy won. I stood for the next 20 minutes losing my shit every time Randy landed a punch or hit a takedown.
Not bad for an old man, indeed. Along with Cro Cop winning the OWGP, Randy reclaiming the HW belt was the best night I've experienced as an MMA fan.
I remember Tim saying the UFC wouldn't let him fight Brock and being upset (supposedly it's one reason he left). Brock was a horrible match-up for him, though. He'd do the same thing Randy did to him, only easier. Tim lacked the TDD or one-punch KO power to threaten Lesnar.
No way. Go back and watch Tim shut down Ricco and Monson. Randy was able to do what he did because he had the striking to fuck up Tim's rhythm. Brock would've just tried to bull rush him and Tim would've shut that shit down and fed him jabs and one-twos all night.