Randy Couture Over Brandon Vera: A Tainted Win? Afterthoughts on Hardy, Bisping

Perhaps I was expecting too much from Randy "The Natural" Couture (17-10); I vividly remember the awesome fight he had against another heavyweight legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-5), and eagerly anticipated a repeat of that bout in UFC 105, held on Nov. 14 held in Manchester, England. 

And I will be brutally honest; his fight against Brandon "The Truth" Vera was quite boring.

Of course, I can't put all the blame on Couture. Vera lately has had his own streak of lackluster bouts against fighters including Reese Andy (7-3), Mike Patt (15-4), and Krzysztof Soszynski (18-9).

In those fights, I could no longer see the heavyweight phenom who made quick work of fighters such as Frank Mir (12-4) and Assuerio Silva (15-8). Vera looked scared and tentative, a shell of his former self.

Couture, in this fight, tried to do what he always did. He tried to execute the gameplan that always seemed to give him the advantage.

Step 1. Close the distance

Step 2: Get the clinch

Step 3: Do some dirty-boxing

Step 4: Take the opponent down to the mat

Step 5: Do some good ol' Ground and Pound

Against Vera, Couture only made it to Step 3.

Vera showed some amazing take-down defense reminiscent to that of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion and Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell (21-7), and landed some stinging kicks to Couture's mid-section, but never found Couture's chin. Liddell made it seem so easy, but I guess not every one could be the Iceman.

It seems that many people including major MMA website analysts scored the fight in favor of Vera, reasoning that he had won rounds 2 and 3.

The fact is that the two last rounds were incredibly close. I gave the first round to Couture, and then for the remaining 10 minutes, I was scratching my head.

One thing that was sure, at least in my eyes, was that Couture was controlling Vera and directing the pace of the fight.

Of course, Couture didn't do any significant damage, but Vera looked exhausted and quite frustrated.

Couture may have been undersized when he fought at Heavyweight, but at Light Heavyweight he is incredibly strong and durable, something that I think was a deciding factor in his fight against Vera.

While Couture was not a "Champion," per say, I think the judges took notice of how he was the crowd-favorite.

I am not saying that there is any conspiracy involved, but there is something about Couture that makes him likable not only in the eyes of an average Mixed Martial Arts fan (Everybody loves Randy!), but also in the eyes of an average Judge.

My words of condolence for Vera fans:

Couture desperately needed this win and luckily squeezed one out. Vera is still young and has time to grow.

Couture fans will say that a "W" is all that counts, but I think Couture himself knows that his current game-plan will never work properly on the upper echelon of current LHW fighters.

There is no doubt that his body has held up remarkably well and stood the test of time, but now he has to change his mental aspect. He needs to evolve his game-plan.

How would Couture fare against fighters who have equally good take down defense AND knockout power? I think that Rampage, Shogun, Rashad, Machida will all flatten Couture, and I don't want to see "the Natural" taking a nap inside the Octagon.

My thoughts on Hardy and Bisping:

It's great that the Brits had their fighters win. In an exciting fight against veteran Mike Swick (14-3), Dan Hardy (23-6) proved that he was no joke, and has now propelled his status as the No. 1 contender to Georges St. Pierre's (19-2) welterweight crown.

But I stand firm in my prediction that GSP will utterly humiliate Hardy if this fight comes to fruition. Sorry, Dan Hardy fans. GSP is just that good.

For Michael Bisping (18-2), I am glad to see that he has shaken off his devastating loss against Dan Henderson (25-7).

Denis Kang (32-12) is without a doubt a solid contender, and while Kang did beat Bisping in the first round, the Brit weathered the early storm and got the win.

I was impressed with how Bisping fared in the wrestling department; I remember actually laughing out loud when I saw him trying to take down Henderson in their fight. So what's next in line for Bisping?

A future match against grappling ace Demian Maia (11-1) would be great. Both are coming back suffering from Knock-Out-of-the-Year losses and need to prove themselves again.

It seems like UFC 105 left us with just as many questions as answers. Is Couture going to make history again? Did he do enough to get the win?

What does he need to do to improve? How will Hardy fare against the Canadian phenom? Only time will tell.