Ok I'm not going to report retirement announcements anymore since nobody in sports seems to take them very seriously at all. Randy Couture is rumoured to be fighting Lyoto Machida at UFC 129/130 or whatever it will be called in April in Toronto, possibly as the co-main to a GSP/Shields headliner. So yeah, only dead fighters may officially be retired from this point out.
I don't think the last announcement was an official retirement. Randy's lawyer came out and said that it wasn't and then reports came out that if he didn't get Machida or Shogun, he wanted to hang them up. Machida should demolish Randy. If Randy is going to try and clinch with him, he's gonna eat some kicks and knees.
Randy's lawyer certainly has a vested interest in seeing Randy continue to compete, so when Randy said "I think this is it" or however he phrased it, I took that as coming from the horse's mouth. Should've been more mindful of the last time he retired after Chuck knocked him out.
You do not want to see one of the greatest of all time fight? Are you even an MMA fan? Or just a Randy hater?
He's 47, Lyoto Machida is going to kill him. I'll admit that because of how he fights, Couture hasn't been KO'ed as much as others on the tail end of their careers (IE Liddell) but Couture is also 8-9 (?) years older, a bad knock out probably isn't going to be good for his head.
He's got to fight regularly if he wants to be competitive, or at least keep his head and neck together. In the back of my mind I'm wondering if the huge Toronto crowd is the kind of sendoff he is looking for.
Machida isn't Brandon Vera, James Toney, or Mark Coleman, he's a lot better. Randy's chances of controlling Machida in the clinch or taking him down aren't going to be as good as when Couture fought those other three guys. You could argue that Randy controlled Vera and that Vera has solid wrestling credentials but that would be countered easily by the fact that Vera has been exposed as a grade-A can crusher and he got out grappled by Thiago Silva in his last match. Plus the fact that last few times Randy's been forced to stand and trade with his opponent he's been rocked or TKO'ed (see Randy V. Minotauro and Randy V. Brock), I just don't think it's going to be a good night for Couture. Randy is a great athlete but at 47 I don't think he will able to keep up with a high caliber fighter like Machida and getting KO'ed or punched in the head isn't going to be good for him.
I agree that Randy will probably try to employ the same strategy as he did with Vera--tangle him up and wall-and-stall him. Keep Machida off his bike. If he allows Machida to dart in and out, Randy will get KO'd. No doubt. Machida is too fast and strikes too precisely.
Randy better hope he can wall and stall and maybe take Machida down. If he can't close that distance and Machida is able to dart in and out, Randy is fucked.
If Randy is able to grab Machida and throw him up against the cage and employ his dirty boxing, Randy has a chance. Im sure they are devising a plan to do just that.
Ok now that was a much better post!!! You almost have me convinced now lol but I still think Randy has enough in the tank to take Machida. But I really cannot stand Machida the Piss Drinker... maybe that is influencing my decision.
