Monday
Aug272007
And Still..........
Monday, August 27, 2007 at 12:30AM
UFC 74 the card that on paper had a certain heavy weight champion handing over his title and belt to the man that knocked out Cro-cop with a leg kick to his neck.
Guess what if you put money on that being the case - then you will be short what ever you placed down. I on the other hand would be somewhat better off as I bet on Couture winning and he did in grand style.....again
I was nervous before the fight - I mean while I hoped that Couture would be victor I did wonder would Gonzaga be able to trump the champ?
On paper Gonzaga paper was the favorite - he is substantially heavier and taller than Couture and is reported to have good standup as well as top BBJ. All in all he looks like a well rounded package, and he is riding on the wave of beating Cro-cop in a totally devastating manner. If you were then to look at Couture - the man is in his mid 40's and is now past the age that many hold as being the age that someone should continue in full contact sports, he moved down a weight category from heavyweight when he lost to a number bigger, stronger fighter.
The one thing that was on Couture's side is the fact that he is far and away the most experienced out of the two and he knows a lot about how he fights and his strengths. Combine this with the fact that he is rumored to have one of the best training regimes - then things start to become a little more balanced.
Couture again showed his improved stand up skills, but was rocked a couple of times when Gonzaga caught him a couple of times, It was looking to be a close run thing, with differing opinions as to who had won what round. Third round - Gonzaga had no way to defend the raining blows and Herb Dean ended the fight. Now it was unfortunate that there had been a clash of heads that resulted in Gonzaga getting a broken nose but Couture managed to take advantage and retained the belt
The rest of the card was also pretty cool as these things go. There was a cracking fight from GSP who beat Josh Koschek by decision after dominating 3 rounds and beating the wrestler at his own game. For the first couple of rounds GSP looked to be a little tentative with his stand up, although his wrestling skills surprised everyone (including his opponent). GSP very quickly showed that he could play the wrestling game and appeared to psyche out Kos who thought he would dominate the wrestling. By round 3 GSP was in the zone and was happy to show his usual stand up talent.
There had been a lot of debate around whether or not the GSP that would fight would be the man who beat Matt Hughes, or the man that was beaten by Matt Serra. Turned out it would be the former rather than the latter.
There were a number of other fights on the night that kept the crowd (and viewers at home) entertained Roger Huerta made everyone laugh by using the large screens to see where his opponent was manage to land some blows - it was a shame that he did not manage to beat the guy before a judges decision was made.
So now it is late and I have to try and sleep before I go to work for a 9am meeting. but for now we get to say (In best Bruce Buffer stylie)..........
And still UFC Heavyweight Champion.....The natural Randy Couture
Guess what if you put money on that being the case - then you will be short what ever you placed down. I on the other hand would be somewhat better off as I bet on Couture winning and he did in grand style.....again
I was nervous before the fight - I mean while I hoped that Couture would be victor I did wonder would Gonzaga be able to trump the champ?
On paper Gonzaga paper was the favorite - he is substantially heavier and taller than Couture and is reported to have good standup as well as top BBJ. All in all he looks like a well rounded package, and he is riding on the wave of beating Cro-cop in a totally devastating manner. If you were then to look at Couture - the man is in his mid 40's and is now past the age that many hold as being the age that someone should continue in full contact sports, he moved down a weight category from heavyweight when he lost to a number bigger, stronger fighter.
The one thing that was on Couture's side is the fact that he is far and away the most experienced out of the two and he knows a lot about how he fights and his strengths. Combine this with the fact that he is rumored to have one of the best training regimes - then things start to become a little more balanced.
Couture again showed his improved stand up skills, but was rocked a couple of times when Gonzaga caught him a couple of times, It was looking to be a close run thing, with differing opinions as to who had won what round. Third round - Gonzaga had no way to defend the raining blows and Herb Dean ended the fight. Now it was unfortunate that there had been a clash of heads that resulted in Gonzaga getting a broken nose but Couture managed to take advantage and retained the belt
The rest of the card was also pretty cool as these things go. There was a cracking fight from GSP who beat Josh Koschek by decision after dominating 3 rounds and beating the wrestler at his own game. For the first couple of rounds GSP looked to be a little tentative with his stand up, although his wrestling skills surprised everyone (including his opponent). GSP very quickly showed that he could play the wrestling game and appeared to psyche out Kos who thought he would dominate the wrestling. By round 3 GSP was in the zone and was happy to show his usual stand up talent.
There had been a lot of debate around whether or not the GSP that would fight would be the man who beat Matt Hughes, or the man that was beaten by Matt Serra. Turned out it would be the former rather than the latter.
There were a number of other fights on the night that kept the crowd (and viewers at home) entertained Roger Huerta made everyone laugh by using the large screens to see where his opponent was manage to land some blows - it was a shame that he did not manage to beat the guy before a judges decision was made.
So now it is late and I have to try and sleep before I go to work for a 9am meeting. but for now we get to say (In best Bruce Buffer stylie)..........
And still UFC Heavyweight Champion.....The natural Randy Couture
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