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[Nos 5]

Couture also says the JDS fight is Brock's to lose. Great interview from Captain America. He really comes off as an educated guy who knows the sport inside and out. His points on Lesnar are spot on.

Randy Couture on Machida: "I'm looking to get a hold of him, choke him, and tap him."

A high school state champion. A three time Olympic team alternate. A Three time NCAA Division I All-American. A Pan-Am champion in Greco-Roman Wrestling. A three time UFC heavyweight champion. A two time UFC light heavyweight champion.

Randy Couture's past is littered with titles and accolades. Captain America has managed to succeed at every level during his long and illustrious career. He has captivated the hearts of fans with displays of determination and grit during his countless title fights.

But all good things must come to an end and at 47 years old, Couture is on the downside of the downside of his career. In a sport where most competitors have problems staying competitive at 35, Couture has managed to stay relevant as he edges precariously close to 50.

His secret to staying at the top of mixed martial arts has always been hard work and dedication. Although the way Couture tells it, you would swear he just got lucky.

"Who said I don't need assistance getting out of bed?" Couture joked during his time on The MMA Fight Corner presented by FiveKnuckles.com. "I've been very fortunate. I've held up pretty well. I don't know, I don't have a real explanation for that. I think because throughout my 30's I was competing, I was very active with both USA Wrestling and the international team and then fighting I never really let myself get out of shape, to let me body go, to let father time take over."

While he maintains his ridiculous physique for someone 47 years old, Couture has inevitably slowed down over the past few years. The once active Couture has begun to take more time in between fights and contemplate retirement even more seriously than before. Rather than fighting the guys at the tippity top of his division he has been relegated to fighting also-rans and freak shows.

Of course Couture loved those fights, especially the one against boxing great James Toney. Toney famously went about trash talking with Quinton "Rampage" Jackson before securing a fight with the UFC. Dana White and the UFC brass felt that Couture would be the perfect opponent to welcome Toney into mixed martial arts.

"I was certainly happy about it," Couture said. "I know we've been compared to boxing for my entire time in the sport. Everybody talks about boxing and the UFC or mixed martial arts. For the first real world class caliber boxer to finally step up and not just run his mouth, and he did plenty of running his mouth, but he actually signed on the dotted line and said he was gonna fight. I was excited to get the nod and be the one that was selected to go in there and show them what MMA was all about. I was excited about it."

"He's done what he's done in boxing and I certainly took those accolades very seriously. I had no allusions of being a world class boxer. I wasn't going to stand around and try and prove something and punch with him."

While Couture has recently been relegated to upholding the sanctity of mixed martial arts, he was once constantly matched up with title holders in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight division. His most famous fights are arguably his trilogy with Chuck Liddell. Couture managed to upset Liddell in their first bout to capture the interim light heavyweight title.

Captain America also gained notoriety for his "incident" with Tito Ortiz. The two met in 2003 where Couture won the actual...

[Sakara=Excitement]

Just a pointer....try to include the quote from the thread title in the body of the post.

http://www.fiveknuckles.com/mma-news...d-tap-him.html

The master strategist, Couture has long entered fights with some of the best game plans in all of mixed martial arts. The fight with Machida shouldn't be any different.

"Well Lyoto's been kinda that enigma for a lot of guys," Couture said. "Figuring out how to approach him, how do you make this guy fight you and not fall into his traps and his game. He's very interesting, very complex style. When you start breaking it down and studying it, he does a lot of things very interestingly and he makes it work for him."

"I think obviously the most effective thing is his footwork, his ability to move and stay out of the way of things is pretty impressive. I'm not real big on making predictions, I think if I can cut him off and make him to fight me I'm gonna have a good night. If I can run him into the fence and use the clinch skills and the cage fighting skills I've developed from my Greco background, it's gonna be difficult for him. I think if I can get him on the ground, I can make him work there. We'll see what kind of ground skills he really has because nobody has really put him there."

"I'm looking for a way to get a hold of him, choke him and make him tap."

[cnlclink]

Randy submit Machida? I think not, he's got only 4 sub wins to his name and one is Toney and the other Coleman...need I say more? I think is best way to win is to try to do what he did to Gonzaga but I don't see that happening.

I'm pulling big time for Machida to win but now I want him to sub Couture! A heel hook would be very nice for me to see applied to Randy.

[davidgoliath1978]

I just need a minute to say something to everyone posting here...This was a great read and thanks. I have been reading the forums here for probably 18 months now and mmanews.com is my go-to spot for updates and tid-bits of information. Yeah, junkie is the top rated and they have some good writers, but the format of their page annoys me. Here is one short page that supplies all the latest news plus here is a box at the bottom where other fans as avid as me some moreso, agrue out great points and all the things the fans think, but noone talks about in the interviews. Thanks. The best material for me is right here...ESPECIALLY the forums. Also, a little over a year ago one of you regular posters showed me the site mmatycoon.com...been playing almost everyday since. Thanks for this site and these posts, even if when I do post noone cares. Doesn't matter to me, if I see someone say something that I strongly agree or disagree with, I will be back again...Anyways thanks to all of you regular posters. Its like a reality show about mma fans that you read...lol

[goodtimes]

Pretty good article, I'd recommend reading the whole thing if you haven't already. The way Couture explains the upcoming JDS/Lesnar fight is spot on. I've rewatched some of Lesnar's fights and he's really not as bad as people are making him out to be, he throws straight punches, works off the jab, and keeps his hands up. His main weakness is his head movement sucks and it's not like he's a world class European kickboxer that can block tons of punches without getting hit. He leaves openings, and both Carwin and Velasquez exploited them. The main difference with JDS is he's not a wrestler, so unless he gets really good at avoiding the takedowns he can be in a lot of trouble.

Honestly, I don't see how Couture beats Machida, he looks to be very hard to take down and he's so fast where as Couture is a slower guy at LHW. Machida has been one of my favorite fighters for a while, I was pretty bummed to see him "win" that dec against Shogun and he doesn't seem to be the same guy who destroyed Silva, Evans, and Ortiz. I don't know if it's just because he had a bad plan against Shogun or whatever, he looked too tentative against Rampage in the 1st and 2nd, but I think it's still his fight. If Couture wins, it's hard to believe he would retire, he'd be so close to a title shot.

[earle]

"I think obviously the most effective thing is his footwork, his ability to move and stay out of the way of things is pretty impressive. I'm not real big on making predictions, I think if I can cut him off and make him to fight me I'm gonna have a good night. If I can run him into the fence and use the clinch skills and the cage fighting skills I've developed from my Greco background, it's gonna be difficult for him. I think if I can get him on the ground, I can make him work there. We'll see what kind of ground skills he really has because nobody has really put him there."

Sounds like Randy's strategy against Chuck Liddell. Couture had trouble executing this in the 2nd and 3rd fights because Chuck really worked on his footwork and forced Randy to always be a step behind him. I don't see that strategy working against Machida, who has even better footwork.

But hey, anything can happen and we've counted Randy out before.

[lwbrewer]

Randy's probely got something else he's going to try as theirs nobody much better than Randy for game plans and predictions. As Randy said about Brock it will be Machida's fight to lose.

[CHAEL fan]

Randy submit Machida?....nah....Randy decision Machida for a victory? Absolutely

[W.Silva>C.Norris]

Originally Posted by CHAEL fan

Randy submit Machida?....nah....Randy decision Machida for a victory? Absolutely

If he comes out to stranglehold as his walk out music again.... it could happen! The last time I said Randy was gonna get pasted was gonzaga. I learned. Now, when Mr. Couture says something, I believe him.

[Kimbo> Rampage]

I highly doubt that. Couture will have problems dealing with lyoto's distance and spacing and lyoto will strike when he sees fight, he also wont be too conservative like when he fought rampage, cause if page hits you, you can get ktfo. Even if randy does in close to lyoto, He wont get him down easy and will have to worry about getting takendown himself. Lyoto has a very strong base and balance. He also can land some sicks throws and sweeps that even some high level wrestlers do see too often.