The Rear Naked Column 11.19.09: Naturally Declining

Posted by Samer Kadi on 11.19.2009

In the main event of UFC 105, Randy Couture made a successful return to the light heavyweight division when he edged out Brandon Vera in a close unanimous decision victory. Despite the win, Couture’s performance has come under heavy fire. Is The Natural finally showing his true age? Can his body hold up when fighting the top tier of the light heavyweight division? 411’s Samer Kadi discusses the future of UFC hall of famer in this week’s edition of “The Rear Naked Column”.

It gets echoed every time "The Natural" steps a foot inside the Octagon to the point where it gets tiresome, but competing – let alone triumphing – in a Mixed Martial Arts contest at the highest level at 46 years of age is absolutely awe-inspiring. Coming up with hyperbole to describe Captain America's exploits seems rather outdated these days, as we've all been forced to listen to them time and time again ever since his upset of Chuck Liddell back in 2003.



Unfortunately, often times the sheer charm of a 46 year old man holding his own in combat sports gets overlooked by an overly critical MMA media. The fact that Randy Couture is more or less taken for granted nowadays should in no way reduce the magnitude of everything he has been able to accomplish throughout the course of his illustrious career.

With that said, his victory over Brandon Vera is by far the most underwhelming of his career, and this has nothing to do with the controversial nature of the decision. While his initial win over Pedro Rizzo raises controversy to this very day among hardcore fans, that fight in general and Couture's performance in particular were nothing to look down upon. Relieved as I was when the decision was announced on Saturday, I found myself with little to cheer about. My negativity has little to do with the "boring" nature of the fight (I think people have been a little too harsh), but more to do with Couture's performance.



To avoid turning this into a huge oxymoron, allow me to state that I am in no way criticizing Randy Couture. If you think the above paragraph contradicts the opening passage, it does not. Randy Couture staying competitive with a much younger fighter and winning the fight (albeit in controversial fashion) at 46 years of age is amazing. His performance however, was everything but. But do I really blame him? No. Don't take this as criticism, take it as a mere observation: I think we've come to the moment where Randy Couture's body has finally decided to show its true age. He still looks shredded, his cardio will never be an issue and he's probably in better shape than most twenty five year olds, but Randy's chin, reaction time, explosiveness, reflexes and recovery have declined considerably. And unfortunately, there's little – if anything – Couture can do about it.

Coming into the fight, Randy declared he's the best fighter that he's ever been. He was half right. I believe Randy Couture's fighting brain is the best it's ever been. But critically, his body isn't.

Randy's fighting IQ, knowledge, technique, experience and heart are at an all time high. The attributes that Randy possesses as a fighter at this stage of his career simply cannot be learned over night, and that is what has allowed him to stay competitive at such a high level for so long and really sets him apart from some of his peers. Being at the head of Xtreme Couture, Randy watches the best fighters come into his gym on a daily basis and trains with them. Even when outside of the Octagon, Randy is constantly absorbing new information. His growth as a fighter starts in the gym. He also has cornered many fighters across the world, dating back to his Team Quest days. He's been ringside with the likes of Dan Henderson in his PRIDE days as well as Matt Lindland and more recently Forrest Griffin, Gray Maynard and Tyson Griffin. Couture holds the distinction of being involved in the sport as a fighter, corner man, trainer, and commentator, all of which have further developed his maturity as a fighter. He's covered so many grounds in MMA, and in turn became one of the few veterans who knew how to evolve with the sport and adapt their game to modern MMA.

Randy being the master game planner that he is, thrives on figuring out his opponents' weaknesses, and is more often than not able to do it. His tactical approach to fights has led him to some of the most memorable wins of his career and no fewer than five world titles.



Since his return to the UFC in 2007, the most improved aspect of Couture's game has been his technique. Despite Couture being a wrestler who will always play into his strengths, his fights with Tim Sylvia and Gabriel Gonzaga proved that Randy has become much more than just a Greco Roman guy. The Tim Sylvia fight in particular was astonishing, as Randy spent a significant portion of that fight striking with Sylvia, and that includes a third round where he didn't attempt a single takedown. Randy surprised everyone with sharp boxing and fantastic head movement. And while he got back to his roots against Gabriel Gonzaga and utilized the clinch to muscle the big man against the fence, Randy still enjoyed tremendous success in the stand up. Randy's technical improvements have allowed him to escape situations he wouldn't have been able to deal with earlier in his career. He was able to scramble from underneath Brock Lesnar which is no easy feat, and he tricked Brandon Vera into taking his back, scrambled brilliantly and regained his feet. That kind of ring generalship and awareness cannot be taught, and it takes a true student of the game to acquire it.

As far as I'm concerned, the fight that defines Randy Couture's current state in a nutshell is the Minotauro Nogueira fight. Randy displayed all of his technical improvements and all his physical limitations in one bout. Couture showed good footwork, head movement and combinations. He tagged Big Nog repeatedly, yet he was the one who got dropped, further showing his declining reflexes and his inability to take a shot. Randy's reaction time is just not what it used to be, and his chin can't take a solid punch anymore. At the same time, Couture survived being mounted and having his back taken by one of the best Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in MMA. And most significantly, he showed textbook submission defense by escaping a seemingly locked in Anaconda choke (Nogueira's trademark). This was the same man who suffered first round submissions at the hands of Enson Inoue and Valentijn Overeem. There's something to be said about a fighter's grappling when he survives three rounds on the ground with Minotauro Nogueira.

In the Vera fight, Randy was very hesitant in the stand up and clearly wanted no part of it. And while it's the smart thing to do against a kickboxer like Vera, Couture's confidence in his striking has always allowed him to keep his opponents guessing, helped him close the distance and served as a very efficient set up for the takedowns. At UFC 105, Randy was just rushing in and closing range, often eating shots in the process. Couture just couldn't work from distance, and looked in danger whenever both fighters separated. He was eating body kick after body kick and never really had the reflex to time the kick and catch it for the takedown, despite attempting it on a couple of occasions.

When he's not fighting on the inside, Randy Couture is always in trouble these days. He was dropped and finished by Brock, got knocked down twice by Nogueira (a man who's not particularly known for his punching power) and Vera took the wind right out of him with a body kick and a knee.



So how can Randy deal with the Machidas, Shoguns, and Rashads of the division? I'm not calling for Randy Couture to retire. I love watching the man fight and will root for him no matter what. Furthermore, I believe his fight with Mark Coleman is a brilliant piece of matchmaking on the UFC's behalf, but it's a fight Couture must dominate, and even finish. But when Randy steps up in competition, I really fear for him. Be it against Rampage Jackson (when he returns) or his often talked about superfight with Anderson Silva, Couture will find himself staring at the ceiling. I will honestly worry for Couture if he ever squares off with someone of Silva's speed and accuracy. People talk about Couture being a match up problem for Anderson, but I think Randy will get dropped before he ever gets the chance of getting a hold of The Spider.

It's a shame that Randy peaked as a fighter right when his body was about to start declining. He possesses the brain any fighter would kill to have, from mental strength to experience to tactical discipline and smart game planning. Too bad he no longer has the body to carry such a heavy brain.