In Handy's book, he said that the UFC brought him in with the intent of both Mo Smith and the Monster to just absolutely beat the dick off of Handy. He was supposed to be fodder.
Randy was almost always fodder. Vitor is destroying everybody, give him that new wrestler guy. Mo makes mincemeat of wrestlers, give him the guy who beat Vitor. Randleman can outwrestle anybody, bring back the Greco guy and have Randleman show him up. Rizzo is the heir apparent to Ruas, let him light Randy up. Tito won't fight Chuck, let him beat the hell out of a former champ.
Very rarely was Randy expected to win, but the times when he was the biggest underdog were the times he came up the biggest. That's why he was so awesome.
Handy vs. Mo Smith was pretty damn boring
Randy was still a pure wrestler in that fight. He hadn't developed a real top-game, plus Mo was always slick off of his back, so even if Randy had tried to let loose with his primitive GNP, he would've likely just been wasting energy and he for sure wasn't going to make the same mistakes Coleman made.
Monster vs. Handy was pretty good. Kev definitely won the first 2 rounds.
That's an interesting fight because it shows the difference between the two of them not as wrestlers but as mixed martial artists. Randleman had one of the best shots ever and he could take down damn near anybody, but by that time, Randy had enough experience to stay composed on his back and wait for his opportunity, and once he got to the clinch and closed the distance so Randleman couldn't shoot on him, it was all Randy, especially once he got on top. Whereas Randy had evolved past just being a wrestler by the time he fought Randleman, it was losing to Randy that forced Randleman to start to evolve beyond just being a wrestler.
Some people talk about losing interest in MMA. I don't follow the contemporary scene as intensely as I used to, mainly because of how many events there are and how little time I have these days, but I love the old school stuff just as much now as I ever have. It's so much fun watching the sport emerge and develop and to watch fighters learn in step with the evolution of the sport.
Fight Pass has its problems, but at least it's preserved the history of the UFC for new fans to see all of these great fights.
