Randy may want to step back and take a look around because there may be another opponent for him. Days after winning the light heavyweight belt Mauricio “Shogun “Rua (19-4) was interviewed by Sherdog and said that he would like to fight Randy Couture. With the fan base for each of these fighters it would not surprise anyone if Dana White and Joe Silva make this happen. We all know that when a fighter says he wants to fight someone Dana usually makes it happen at some point. Randy has defeated one top contender in Brandon “the truth” Vera (11-5) by unanimous decision and fellow hall of famer Mark “the hammer” Coleman (16-10) by submission in the second round since moving down to the light heavyweight division. At 46 years old Randy is the only fighter to win the light heavyweight and heavyweight belts on separate occasions. He is a world class wrestler with great control skills. Rua is a 28 year old Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai master with a ton of power.

What true fan would not want to see this fight happen?

WASHINGTON, DC

The main event features MMA legends Pedro Rizzo and Gary Goodridge.  “The Rock” Rizzo, a four-time Brazilian Muay Thai Champion, holds notable wins over Josh Barnett, Andrei Arlovski, Mark Coleman, Dan Severn and Ricco Rodriguez. Trained by Vale Tudo legend Marco Ruas, Rizzo’s MMA record is 32-9-0.  Nicknamed “Big Daddy”, Goodridge is well-known for his showmanship and hard-hitting fighting style.  Born in Ontario, Canada Goodridge began his MMA journey defeating Paul Herrera in Ultimate Fighting Championship 8.  Former PRIDE contender Goodridge had key victories over Don Frye, Dan Bobish, Valentijn Overeem, and a KO of Oleg Taktarov.  Big Daddy’s record is 23-20-1.

Scheduled for the co-main event are Gustavo Machado and Jordan Smith.  Machado has competed against a number of top UFC fighters including Thales Leites, Brad Blackburn, Demian Maia, and Nate Quarry.   Associated with the Gracie Barra Combat team, Machado’s career record is 18-7-1.  Smith began his MMA career on June 15, 2007 where he knocked out Alex May in only 19 seconds.  In 2008, Smith won his first pro Champion Belt by defeating veteran Rich Guerin.  His career record is 11-0-0. 

“We are excited to bring a high level of mixed martial arts to the Nation’s Capital,” said Washington Combat Founder Bob Hisaoka.  “MMA is one of the fastest growing sports in the world, and our area has many loyal fans.  We can’t wait for those fans to be able to see, up close and in person, some of the best fighters in mixed martial arts.” 

The event will feature a number of special guests well-known in MMA circles including Renato “Babalu” Sobral and John Lewis with others to be announced.  Renowned judo and jujitsu instructor Fernando Yamasaki will be the official Washington Combat Matchmaker.  Scheduled to referee is Mario Yamasaki, well-known all over the world for his work in Strike Force and the UFC. 

“We are looking forward to hosting Battle of the Legends featuring some of the best fighters in the world,” said Erik A. Moses, managing director of the WCSA’s Sports, Entertainment and Special Events Division. “It’ll be showtime in the District and for those who haven’t witnessed the sport, we encourage you to come out. Washington Combat has put together a great lineup.”

Tickets for Battle of the Legends range from $27.00 – $266.00.  Tickets are available at all Ticketmaster outlets and online at www.ticketmaster.com.  Fight card is subject to change.

About Washington Combat:

Washington Combat creates and implements high-level mixed martial arts (MMA) events in the Washington, DC region.  Washington Combat works to inform the public on how highly regulated MMA is, and to support the rapid growth of the sport in the Nation’s Capital.  For additional information, please visit www.washingtoncombat.com.

- Martin Kampmann has been forced to withdraw from his UFC 111 match with Ben Saunders due to a nasty facial cut above his right eye. Click the link but be warned its pretty nasty http://bit.ly/d8G6IA. Jake Ellenberger has stepped in for Kampmann and will face Ben Saunders at UFC 111.

- Chael Sonnen is running for Oregon state Representative, following in Matt Linland’s footsteps. ~ The guy is talking about a title shot with Anderson Silva yet he also wants to be in politics. To beat Silva he will need to focus 100% on MMA and not 60/40 between MMA & politics.

- UFC will start to show its PPV fights in theatres across the US starting with UFC 111. The UFC trying to build on the success of Mayweather-Marquez which was shown in theatres last September has partnered with NCM Fathom to show four PPV’s in 2010. ~ I like the idea of seeing a fight on a big theatre size screen but can see a fight breaking out and a bunch of teenage workers trying to break it up.

 - Greg Savage via twitter is reporting he is hearing rumors of Randy Couture vs. Rich Franklin to Co-main event UFC 115. I like this fight and mentioned it as a possible next fight with Couture here.

- Amir Sadollah vs. Dong Hyun Kim has been announced for UFC114 ~ I really like the progression in level of talent taken with Sadollah’s opponents so far and Kim is a proper step up. The fight is interesting to me to see how Sadollah handles Kim’s Judo, tough fight for Sadollah.

- The UFC handed out several pink slips this week following UFC 109:

• Phillipe Nover (0-3) – The promising TUF season 8 fighter just hasn’t been able to put it together in the UFC
• Tim Hague (1-2) – Beat Pat Berry in his debut but has lost his last two fights. Maybe he should have gotten one more fight before the boot.
• Frank Trigg (2-5) – Came back to the UFC and looked bad in both his fights, losing each. Time to retire man.
• Mark Coleman (7-5) – The Hall of Famers came back to the UFC and was 1-1 until losing to another Hall of Famer Randy Couture, then got trash talked by Tito Ortiz. Thought the UFC would have given him a fight with Tito Ortiz.

The biggest news broke yesterday

Vitor Belfort Injured his shoulderis out of his UFC 112 championship Bout With Anderson Silva. There just seems to be a dark cloud that has been following this fight as it has been pushed back multiple times and now is off. Silva will remain on the card with a replacement to be named once they figure one out.  So who steps in and fights Silva for the title? The obvious choice is Chael Sonnen as he was next line line after beating Nate Marquardt last weekend. He was medically suspendedwith no contact until March 9th which would give him one month to get ready for the title fight. With all the talk coming from Sonnen about Silva this fight makes sense.

If he was to decline and not even be offered the fight the other obvious choice is Demian Maia but he is suspended until August 6th due to and eye laceration. Maybe of the other Middleweights are already scheduled to fight in the next couple UFC events, but one fighter that is not scheduled is Yoshihiro Akiyama (Sexyama).  Akiyama would make a really good replacement if Sonnen vs. silva doesn’t happen.

A Super wild card emerged today as Gegard Mousasi has left his management group M-1 global today and the rumors are swirling. The UFC has long wanted Mousasi in the octagon but with M-1 global as his management that just wasn’t going to happen. Mousasi is the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion and was thought to face King Mo later this year and possible fight in the Dream light heavyweight Grand Prix also. I think the idea of him coming to the UFC and fighting Silva is a dream and only a dream, I don’t see this happening.

If Couture and the UFC do not want to wait for the dust to settle over the next few months the only two opponents that I see currently at 205lbs. are Rich Franklin and Thiago Silva. Silva is a top 10 fighter at Light Heavyweight and has been close to a title shot twice, coming up short each time. Silva would be a tough fight for couture but if he won could warrant a title shot. A fight with Rich Franklin would be another super fight placing two former champs against one another but at 1-1 Franklin is not a top 10 light heavyweight. The fight would easily promote itself and even though Franklin is not a top 10 fighter a win by Couture would still go far in his bid for a title shot.

If they choose to wait there is an endless amount of possibilities depending on who wins each fight. I agree with MMA Convert that the only acceptable scenario that results in Randy fighting the title is if Machida beats Shogun, Rashad beats Rampage and Forrest beats Lil’ Nog

• Rashad Evans – UFC 114 versus Rampage Jackson
• Rich Franklin – Recovering for hernia surgery (Jan. 12th)
• Forrest Griffin – UFC 113 versus Antonio Rogerio Nogueira [not going to fight his friend Couture]
• Keith Jardine – UFC 110 versus Ryan Bader
• Chuck Liddell – UFC 115 versus Tito Ortiz
• Lyoto Machida – UFC 113 verusu Shogun Rua
• Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – UFC 113 versus Forrest Griffin
• Tito Ortiz – UFC 115 versus Chuck Liddell
• Shogun Rua – UFC 113 versus lyoto Machida
• Thiago Silva – Lost to Rashad Evans at UFC 108

What do you think will be next for Randy Couture?

I went 4-2 with my Strikeforce: Miami picks bringing me up 23-13-1 for the year. Here are my picks for UFC 109:

Main event:
205 lbs.: Randy Couture over Mark Coleman via Unanimous Decision

Main card (Televised):
185 lbs.: Nate Marquardt over Chael Sonnen via 2^nd rd TKO
170 lbs.: Mike Swick over Paulo Thiago via 2^nd rd TKO
185 lbs.: Demian Maia over Dan Miller via 2^nd rd Submission
170 lbs.: Matt Serra via Frank Trigg via 3^rd rd Submission

Under card (May not be broadcast):
155 lbs.: Mac Danzig over Justin Buchholz via 2^nd rd. TKO
155 lbs.: Ronnys Torres over Melvin Guillard via 1^st rd Submission
185 lbs.: Rob Emerson over Phillipe Nover via Unanimous Decision
205 lbs.: Phil Davis over Brian Stann via Unanimous Decision
265 lbs.: Chris Tuchscherer over Tim Hague via 2^nd rd TKO
265 lbs.: Rolles Gracie over Joey Beltran 1^st rd Submission

Why is Randy Couture fighting again so quickly after his UFC 105 victory. This after his quick turn around from last weekends fight where he had just fought 2+ months earlier at UFC 103. That will make 3 fights for the 46 year old Couture in a span of 6 months and lets not forget that the 2 completed fights went the distance.

Why is Couture fighting fellow Hall of Famer Mark Coleman? Coleman was originally scheduled to fight Tito Ortiz this Saturday but had to pull out of the fight and was replaced by Forrest Griffin. Coleman who is 44 most recently fought Mauricio Shogun Rua at UFC 93, his first fight since Pride 32 in 2006 where he lost to Fedor. That fight with Rua was a rematch of their Pride fight that ended with Rua breaking his arm and not being able to continue. The rematch made sense as did a fight with the then out for 18 months Tito Ortiz, but Randy Couture???

Why would anyone want to see / pay for this fight? Not many if you read the things being said on the internet. Couture in his last two fight has started to finally show his age and Coleman has been showing his age since coming back to the UFC. These two are a combined 90 years old and yes that is older then dirt. This old timers match will most likely be the nights co-main event behind the Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belort title fight. The name value of Couture is what will sell this fight and not the fight itself. Putting it on a card with a title fight will hide the what many say is a ”lame” fight yet still get the event its PPV buys.