Thursday, November 20, 2008

UFC - Lesnar vs Couture


Caught the UFC PPV headlined by Randy Couture vs Brock Lesnar. It came down to whether or not the 40something Couture, after a year off, could use his experience and mastery of defying the odds to beat Brock Lesnar, with only 3 UFC fights under his belt. Fan polls picked Couture.
Lesnar weighed in at 265, Couture at 220, so by fight time Lesnar was a good 10-20 lbs heavier. When they entered the octagon, Lesnar looked HUGE, but I was surprised how Couture was able to move him around, using his greco-roman skills to his advantage. But Lesnar's size and strength were too much and the match was stopped after he tagged RC and did the ground and pound.
I think UFC needs to get Fedor Emelianko signed up NOW. That without doubt is the big money dream match down the road. Fedor is a machine, but largely unknown to the casual fans. UFC needs to bring him in and start fighting (and presumably winning) to get people familiar with him. Meanwhile, if Lesnar blows through the pretty limited heavyweight division, people will be clamoring for the big match with Emelianko. This will all take 18-24 months. If they do not sign up Fedor now, and Lesnar blows through the competition leaving only Fedor as a credible challenger, his asking price will be huge - add in that his management is notoriously difficult to bargain with, and it seems a no-brainer that it'll be financially prudent to get him now rather than later.

No comments: